Angel and the Demon
by 7hrill
Summary: Continuation of my story Angel: Rebirth of Samantha Shepard. Shepard is a paragon adept, a colonist whose parents died to batarian slavers when she was five, the sole survivor from Akuse, Ashley died at Virmire, in love with Miranda, and Massani was the only death at the collector base. AU with dialog, Miranda's storyline, and the ending, still following the general ME3 plot.
1. Chapter 1

Samantha's Angel versus the Demon

Chapter 1

Bioware owns the rights to all characters other than Samantha.

Continuation of my story Angel: The Rebirth of Samantha Shepard, which covers the events of Mass Effect 2. Samantha is a red haired adept with green eyes, colonist whose parents died to batarian slavers when she was five, sole survivor from Akuze, Ashley died at Virmire, romanced Miranda, and Massani was the only death at the collector base. AU with dialog, Miranda's storyline, and the ending, while still following the general plot.

Samantha Shepard woke in a cold sweat. She pulled herself out of bed and sat on the side, staring into the darkness.

"Massani? Why have nightmares about him? I hated that guy..." But she knew the answer. She pulled him into the mission that killed him, just like Ashley on Virmire, just like her team on Akuze. She caused their death in one way or another. Her subconscious gave her nightmares about each and every one of them. She ran her hand through her hair and looked at the clock. 3 AM. Three hours before she liked to wake up. Four hours before James brought her breakfast. She put her head in her hands, massaging her temples.

She'd been in military 'lock up' in Vancouver for six months now, ever since she condemned hundreds of thousands of batarians to death by destroying a mass relay. She did it to delay the Reapers, but since the council was still in denial about the Reapers...she found herself in a low level military holding area, awaiting sentencing and possibly a court martial. Luckily it was a fairly large cell, with two rooms and a message terminal.

"Angel..I could really use you now." Shepard used her endearment for her lover, Miranda Lawson. She hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in months. She really needed anyone...Liara, Tali, Kasumi, any of her friends. Simple contact during her rem cycle would make sure she slept soundly. In lock- up, there was no one. _Almost no one._ A flash memory brought a smile to her face. Her best night of the last six months, roughly a month after she was locked up.

00000000

"Shep?" Someone said, very close to her ear. Shepard slowly came awake.

"Wha..." She started to get up, a hand gently closed over her mouth, holding her down.

"It's me...Kasumi." The hand pulled away from her face.

"Kasumi? Kasumi!" Shepard reached for her, pulling herself out of bed. Kasumi gave her a big hug.

"Quiet, Shep. It's good to see you." Shepard could barely see her in the dark. "I've brought you a birthday present." Kasumi told her in a whisper.

"Kasumi, my birthday was months ago." Shepard said quietly.

"Sorry it's late." Kasumi backed away from her.

And then she saw her. Miranda walked to her from the corner. "Miranda!"

"Quiet, Sam. You know Kasumi and I are both wanted by the Alliance." Miranda wrapped her in a tight embrace. Sam kissed her head.

"I'll leave you two alone." Kasumi disappeared around a corner.

"I'm going to owe Kasumi a big gift for her birthday this year." Samantha said before meeting Miranda's lips in a fierce kiss.

"She spent the last week figuring out how to get in this place. She's amazing." Miranda told her, sliding her hands under Sam's shirt. "You should file a complaint about the amount of dust in the air ducts."

Sam allowed her to pull her nightshirt off. "I've missed you terribly, Miranda."

"Me too, Sam." She brushed her hands over Samantha's nipples. They immediately stood to attention. "Are you sleeping ok?"

Shepard didn't want to tell her the truth. Miranda needed to be worried about herself and her sister, not her tendency to wake up from nightmares. "I'm doing ok." She was stroking Miranda everywhere, as if trying to map her contours.

"Sam..." Miranda didn't believe her lie. Sam pulled her into another kiss.

"I'll be alright, Miranda. I promise." Miranda looked at her with concern for a minute, shook her head, then returned her attention to Sam.

"Maybe I can give you something to dream about." Miranda pulled back and unzipped her suit. Sam helped slide it off her shoulders.

"You always do." Sam told her as Miranda slid her suit over her hips, then Sam helped pull it off her legs.

"We have to be quiet. The guards are still making their rounds." Miranda said, pulling Sam back up into a kiss.

"I'll do my best." Shepard told her with a grin. Miranda slid her hands down Sam's hips, pulling down her underwear on the way.

Two hours later Kasumi returned to drag Miranda away. Shepard thanked her profusely, swearing to make it up to her someday.

00000000

Shepard smiled to herself and pulled on some pants. She put on some gloves and walked into the next room where a punching bag was installed. James Vega added it to her room after she complained about getting out of shape. She originally thought wearing herself out would help her sleep. Now she just beat on the bag out of boredom.

Two hours later Shepard checked her messages wearing a towel. Her friends knew her messages were screened, so they couldn't reveal much. Being out of the loop was killing her, but it was still nice when she got a message.

_Sam,_

_I miss you._

_Love, A_

Shepard smiled. Miranda sent messages from a different public terminal every time, and always signed them A. Shepard had an emergency link she could use to contact her if necessary, but she wasn't supposed to use it for something as banal as telling her she loved her. It made her sad.

Miranda didn't trust her encryptions to hold up against Cerberus or the Alliance, so they kept everything anonymous, and one way. Anything out of the military compound where she was held would have a trace attached. Shepard requested a pardon from Anderson for everyone on the SR2, including Miranda, but Anderson said his hands were tied. Shepard assumed his hands would stay tied unless she found some way out of this mess. Her next message was troubling, though not because of the content.

_Samantha,_

_When are you going to propose to my sister? I know you're in the clink and all, but you really should consider it. She's on the run from two different massive organizations, and could use some stability in her life._

_I know you guys are head over heels in love with each other, and she doesn't think the bond would make any difference, but it will._

_Don't worry about me. I sent this from a public service terminal far from home, and bounced it between several different systems._

_-O_

Shepard frowned. Oriana, Miranda's sister, might have done a good job disguising the source, but Cerberus was very determined. Shepard hoped this didn't come back to haunt her. As for proposing to Miranda, that would have to wait until she was out of this place at the very least.

00000000

Shepard watched a young boy play on a nearby rooftop. She didn't really have any duties while she was in lock-up, so she spent a lot of time staring out windows.

James came in and saluted her. Lieutenant James Vega, built like a truck, he had to work out several hours a day to keep his body bulging. He always saluted her, though she didn't have an official rank any more.

"Commander." He told her.

"You're not supposed to call me that, James."

"I'm not supposed to salute you either, Commander." Shepard couldn't help but smile. He was a good kid, and had a bright future if he played his cards right. A bit of a chip on his shoulder, but nothing bigger than she had at his age. He hit on her occasionally, but he wasn't overbearing. He must have pissed someone off to get guard duty on her. Shepard was sure he would prefer to be somewhere on the front lines.

"Need anything?" Shepard asked. The clock said just after nine.

"The Council wants to see you, now."

"That sounds ominous." She said before following him out the door. _Very ominous._

Anderson met her as she exited lock-up and they headed to the Assembly chamber together, passing Kaiden on the way.

"Kaiden." Shepard nodded at him.

"Shepard." Kaiden said back. Shepard could tell he still held some animosity towards her, just because she worked for Cerberus to destroy the collectors. _Nothing's changed since Horizon._

Once facing the Council it was obvious why they summoned her, they finally had irrefutable evidence in the form of a video feed from London. _Reapers!? Already here!? I thought we had more time..._ _And now they want me to solve their problem._

"Now you want my help? You could have been preparing for months!" She laid into them with more vile than necessary, but six months in lock-up tends to offend.

"But what do we do to stop them?" One of the councilors asked.

"Stop them!?" Shepard scoffed. "It's too late for that now! We're talking about survival..." She was interrupted by a rumble from outside the building. Everyone turned to look through the large windows behind the Council. For a moment nothing was apparent, then they saw it.

The clawed limbs of a Reaper dropped from the clouds like a huge hand reaching towards the earth. Then the shell opened up and fired up its main weapon. Shepard yelled and started running away from the windows. Soon after the Reaper blast shook the Council chamber, smashing the windows and tossing desks and chairs asunder. Shepard found herself air-born briefly before slamming into a wall, dropping to the floor heavily.

She woke to dead silence. The explosion knocked out her hearing. She shook her head, then pulled herself up and looked around. The windows were blown out. Every desk, chair, and monitor was smashed. Her hearing began to return with a faint wind noise. She heard someone say something, but couldn't understand. Anderson appeared. He'd been calling her name. Outside they could see flaming comets falling everywhere. Finally her hearing returned.

"Here." Anderson told her, handing her a pistol. Shepard took it, searching for more clips. None were to be found. The door was covered with debris, so they were forced to jump out the windows onto framing outside. Anderson made contact with Kaiden and James and was trying to join up with them. Shepard's heart jumped a little when she heard that they were on the Normandy. They were going to meet in the harbor. She and Anderson jogged along the metal framework to a slanted beam ahead.

Shepard watched one of the flaming comets hit the ground, only to see several husks and some other creatures emerge. "What the hell?" She said. Anderson jumped to another building on the way to the harbor. Several husks climbed onto the balcony ahead of them. Shepard didn't even use her gun. Her biotics wiped them out. It felt good to throw warps again.

They found a way inside and down to street level. Close to the harbor they came across a pair of Alliance soldiers.

"Our gunship took a hit and crash landed on the other side of this wreckage." They pointed over something that was twisted enough to make identification impossible. "I pulled Davies here from the ship and over here to hide. There are several of those creatures over there."

Shepard looked over to see no husks, but several of the other creatures that emerged from the comet. They looked vaguely batarian due to the number of eyes, but they were twisted and larger.

"I'll take care of them, stay down."

As Shepard moved to a better vantage point she heard the men ask Anderson if she was 'The Shepard'. _Ahhh, the price of fame._

There were almost ten of the creatures. After a few shots from her pistol it was obvious they could take more than a pistol shot to the head before going down. It took several minutes to take the entire group down. It felt good to be back in the mix. She returned to Anderson and the troops.

"Our gunship is right over there. We didn't have time to activate the beacon. Davies here even dropped his assault rifle." The trooper told them.

Shepard and Anderson headed to the downed gunship. Anderson tossed Shepard the rifle before setting the beacon active. He notified Kaiden of their location, but the call was cut off.

"Lieutenant!? Do you copy?" Anderson only received static. "We're in the harbor next to a downed gunship. We're activating its beacon." Nothing but static. "We have to hope something made it through." Anderson told her as he set the beacon active.

"The Reapers must be blocking the signal." Shepard told him. "Look out!" She yelled, pushing Anderson towards some cover. A fireball landed nearby, releasing several of the batarian things. Shepard took one out, then watched in horror as several others started eating the corpse. "Yuck. Cannibals." Even less pleasant, the cannibals who ate gained a barrier of some sort. Shepard concentrated her fire on any that were eating, quickly creating a pile of corpses.

"I'm out." Anderson told her.

She checked both guns. "Me too." She continued to warp and shockwave the stragglers until a second fireball landed to release another large batch of cannibals. Shepard looked behind them for a suitable escape, but unless they wanted to start swimming they weren't going anywhere. The harbor covered the horizon behind them. "Run back to those troops, Anderson. I'll keep them distracted so you can escape."

"The hell you will, I'm staying with you." Anderson told her. Shepard growled before throwing another shockwave, sending several cannibals flying. It was the only thing keeping them away at the moment.

"Damnit, Anderson! Go!" Shepard yelled.

"The cavalry is here!" James announced through their omni tools. Shepard watched happily as the Normandy made the save, wiping out the cannibals with a single blast. Several burning cannibals flew over her head. Shepard gazed longingly as her beloved Normandy settled down next to a rafter they could climb. She hopped up and ran up the rafter, leaping onto the holding bay door of the Normandy, where James and Kaiden were standing with weapons out. James handed her a couple clips.

Anderson ran up the rafter and stopped. Shepard held out her arm to him.

"Head to the Citadel." He told her.

"You're not coming?" She asked.

"I'm needed here." As they watched several shuttles swooped down to pick up random troops and civilians. Shepard saw the small boy she'd seen on a rooftop climb into one of the shuttles.

"Then I'm staying too." Shepard told him.

"Head to the Citadel! We can't win this alone. We need help!" He yelled over the blast of a nearby Reaper.

"You can't tell me what to do, remember?" She told him.

Anderson fished her dog tags out of his pocket and tossed them to her. "You're reinstated, Commander! Now go!" He turned and ran towards the shuttles.

Shepard watched him for a few seconds before turning to James. "Let's go." As the bay door closed she watched the shuttle with the boy blasted by a Reaper. Her head dropped as she entered the cargo bay.

"Welcome back, Commander." She heard the familiar voice over the speakers.

"Joker?" She asked. "The Alliance let you rejoin?"

"The one and only. For some reason the ship wouldn't fly straight without me at the helm."

"I'm guessing EDI had something to do with that." She smiled.

"Naw, I'm just that good." Joker returned.

"Admiral Hacket would like a word with you in communications, Commander." EDI told her.

"I'll take you there, Commander." James led her away.

00000000

"Mars? Why are we heading to Mars?" James demanded as they headed to the command deck.

"There's a prothean artifact there. We need information from it." Shepard told him.

"This is loco! We need to fight! Drop me off somewhere!" He said.

"The Citadel is next. You can catch a transport there." She said dismissively. "For now, suit up. We don't know what we're going to find down there." James growled and stalked to his locker.

00000000

After landing on Mars they came upon a group of Cerberus troops.

"Cerberus! What are they doing here?" Kaiden asked.

"I don't know." Shepard answered. She saw Kaiden looking at her from the corner of her eye, but decided not to comment. She waited till a couple troops lined up then let loose a shockwave. The Cerberus squad didn't last long.

"Not much of an assault group." Kaiden said.

"They would need a much larger force to take a facility this size... unless they have someone on the inside." Shepard said.

They entered the airlock and started the equalizing process.

"Shepard,." Kaiden asked. "I need a straight answer. What is Cerberus doing here?"

"What makes you think I know anything about what they're up to?" She told him.

"You worked for them. They brought you back to life. How am I not supposed to think you're still in contact? Hell, you're practically married to one of their top officers." Kaiden sounded angry. Mention of Miranda caused Shepard's anger to flare in return. She pushed it down so she didn't snap at Kaiden. She had to find a way to get him back on her side. She leaned against a wall. James was trying to stay neutral, but she could tell he was tense.

"Kaiden, I haven't spoken to Cerberus since I destroyed the collector base, more than six months ago. We didn't separate on very good terms. I stole the Normandy and handed it over to the Alliance, after all." She looked directly into his eyes. "And that officer I'm 'practically married to' has been on the run from both Alliance and Cerberus for all of the last six months, so leave her the fuck out of this."

"Commander Shepard's been under constant surveillance in military lock-up. There's no way she's been in contact with Cerberus." James came to Shepard's aid.

"Sorry, Shepard. It was hard to see you working with them, and it's going to take some time to accept that you're back." Kaiden told her.

"Kaiden, you know me better than most." Shepard looked at him closely before starting the elevator into the facility. "Please trust me."

They entered a garage area that was devoid of activity. They looked around for a few moments before muffled gunshots drew their gaze upward. They were coming from some ductwork near the ceiling. The shots continued for a few moments before a vent was kicked out. An asari in a white jumpsuit leaped out the hole, running a few paces away. As several Cerberus troops climbed out of the duct after her, the asari created a singularity, sending them into helpless drifting. She shot them as they floated. She turned towards the squad and Shepard instantly recognized her.

"Liara?!" Shepard motioned her group to lower their weapons.

"Shepard!" Liara ran over and gave her a quick hug. She looked over to Kaiden. "Nice to see you too, Kaiden."

"Dr. T'soni." He nodded to her.

"This is Lieutenant James Vega." Shepard introduced her other squadmate. "Dr. Liara T'soni."

"Ma'am." He said.

"Lieutenant." She nodded to him, then turned back to Shepard. "There are more coming, and we need to get to the other end of the facility."

"What's so important here?" Kaiden asked.

"A prothean device. Or blueprints for a prothean device, that will help against the Reapers." Liara told them.

"Really? Hidden on Mars all this time?" Shepard was surprised.

"Yes. We believe..." Liara was interrupted by sound coming from the door to the facility.

"Cerberus." Shepard said, pulling her pistol from her back.

"Bring 'em on!" James said. Facing the door.

"James, head back to the shuttle. I need you to cover our backs." Shepard told him.

"What?!" He demanded.

"You heard me. I need someone in that shuttle as backup. Think you can handle that, Lieutenant?" Shepard met his glare. He growled and headed back to the airlock. Shepard looked over her remaining team. Three biotics was far from ideal, but it was good to have both Kaiden and Liara back. "Let's go."

The large door opened and they faced down the troops. Liara was a little rusty, but her biotics were a nice complement to Shepard's. Singularities were warped almost as fast as they appeared, flinging the Cerberus lackeys left and right. The battle was over quickly.

Investigation showed that someone opened the airlock to the main facility, killing all people inside almost immediately.

"Cold." Shepard said.

"Yes." Liara agreed.

Further investigation revealed the culprit as a new scientist Dr. Eva Core. They found video footage of the crime.

"There's your inside man." Kaiden said.

"Looks that way." Shepard agreed. More Cerberus troops appeared to pull them away from the video footage. Soon after they made a gruesome discovery.

"Ugg." Kaiden said.

"What is it?" Shepard walked over to where he was searching Cerberus troops for ammo.

"Look." He pointed to a centurion without a helmet. "You knocked off his helmet with a warp."

The Centurion's face was blotchy and dark, but the disturbing part was the bright blue pattern around the eyes, and within the eyes themselves. It was very similar to the patterns on a husk. The glowing eyes stared lifelessly.

"Yuck." Shepard said. "So much for humanity." Shepard grimaced.

"Is this what they did to you?" Kaiden asked her.

"How can you even make the comparison?" Shepard demanded.

"Shepard, I don't know what you are, or him. You were spaced, and fell through a planet's atmosphere to the planet below. No one survives that. And yet here you are... You say Cerberus rebuilt you. For all I know, you were both rebuilt using the same technology. The Illusive Man could be controlling you."

"If, as you say, The Illusive Man is controlling me, why would he allow me to slaughter his troops? Or steal the Normandy? Or destroy the collector base? I've done quite a few things that The Illusive Man is not happy about." Shepard tried not to glare at him.

"He could be waiting for the best moment to assume control." Kaiden said.

"What can I possibly do to convince you I'm still me?" Shepard asked, exasperated.

"I don't know." Kaiden answered. The answer hung in the air between them.

00000000

Kaiden watched Shepard closely during their fight through the base. _She sure fights the same... _Her preference for warp and shockwave was prevalent. _She's even better at shooting than she was...before. _ He watched in awe as she shot another Cerberus troop through the small slit in the shield he held. As much as he tried to remain guarded towards her, respect was creeping into his mind. After respect came trust. He couldn't allow that to happen. Not until he was sure.

He glanced over at Liara. She had always been close to Shepard. Once he was jealous of her, assuming she and Shepard were an item. Kaiden had foolishly demanded Shepard pick between the two of them, with Liara in the room. Shepard was shocked at his demand and immediately denied anything more than friendship with the asari. The most obvious evidence to support her claim was Liara's lack of outrage when Shepard denied the allegations.

The most confusing part was soon after Virmire, where Ashley sacrificed herself so he could live. Kaiden gritted his teeth at the memory. Shepard had been devastated. Soon after she was seen leaving Liara's area in the early mornings. And Liara was seen leaving the captain's quarters on occasion as well.

Now Shepard is in a well-known relationship with the Cerberus bitch, Miranda Lawson, and Liara greets her like an old friend, not a jilted lover. Liara was either the best actor he'd seen, or there really wasn't anything between them. Kaiden was baffled.

They finally flattened the last Cerberus troops, and arrived at the prothean artifact. Shepard signaled him to sweep the area. He started around the circular room.

The artifact itself was large, with a circular walkway surrounding it. Liara was accessing a terminal nearest the door, but Kaiden noticed another structure on the opposite side of the artifact that might contain another terminal. He quickly ran to check.

He jerked back towards Shepard when he heard the vid comm start up. _The Illusive Man!_ He recognized the smoking bastard from across the room. Shepard talked to him for only a minute before cutting the connection.

"He was trying to distract us from something." She said. "Kaiden, keep searching!" He shook his head in irritation, quickly resuming his sweep. _I shouldn't have let myself become distracted._

"Someone's deleting the data! There's someone in the system!" Kaiden's search became more frantic with Liara's exclamation. He reached the other terminal to see the doctor that killed everyone accessing the terminal.

"Back away from the terminal!" He demanded. She glanced back at him before continuing her work. He closed in on her, readying his weapon.

"Back away now!" He demanded, finger twitching over the trigger. He wasn't fast enough. She moved with lightning speed, faster than a human. He felt the blow but didn't really see it.

Kaiden woke to see Shepard sprint past him. He found himself on the floor against the wall. He pulled himself to his feet and started after Shepard. Liara was just behind him. His chest ached and he was dazed but kept up the chase, seeing the doctor several feet in front of Shepard. She was peppering the doctor with pistol fire and warps, but she did not slow down. They ran through doors and scrambled up ladders in pursuit.

The doctor made it to a rooftop landing pad and hopped into a Cerberus shuttle, lifting off before they could reach it. Kaiden immediately fired upon the shuttle, knowing he couldn't damage it enough before it was gone.

"Damnit!" Shepard yelled. "James! Cortez! Normandy! Anyone!"

"I got this one." James announced through their comm link.. Kaiden watched as the Normandy shuttle swooped in at a steep angle, clipping the Cerberus shuttle just enough to slam it into pad, where it burst into flames. Kaiden and Shepard ducked for cover as the wreckage bounced over them, plating and doors flying off in all directions. Kaiden ended up closest to the wreck, pulling himself off the ground to peer through the open door.

A vision of hell rose. The doctor...but charred, still smoldering in places. He pulled up his rifle and started firing. She didn't seem to feel the rifle fire. Then, with that terrible speed, she slammed into him, knocking his gun away and lifting him off the ground. Her grip was steel on his neck. He struggled against her with little effect.

"Orders?" The doctor asked into a mic.

"Kaiden!" Shepard yelled behind him. "Release him!" She demanded.

As Kaiden started to black out, he heard the Illusive Man answer clearly. "Dispose of him."

The doctor(obviously an android of some sort) turned around and slammed him into the burning hulk of the shuttle. Kaiden blacked out.

00000000

Miranda adjusted her wig, looking into the mirror at herself, briefly wondering if Samantha would like her as a blond. _Probably not._

The last twenty four hours were hectic. She was in a safe house on Illium when the reports about earth came through. The Reapers hit earth hard, one of their initial strikes taking out the Alliance Defense Council facility, the same facility where Shepard was being held. For an hour Miranda scoured reports searching for information about survivors to no avail.

Her relief came when she hacked into a Cerberus channel in desperation. Their attack on a Prothean artifact facility on Mars came to an unexpected conclusion when the Normandy showed up and tore through the Cerberus troops, eventually taking down the Cerberus insider, an android. A few snippets of video showed her all she needed to know. Samantha was alive and well, fighting for the Alliance as Commander of the Normandy. With her was Kaiden Alenko, Dr. Liara T'soni, and some unknown hulk of a man.

The final video came directly from the android, showing it smashing Kaiden against the side of a shuttle. Assuming he lived they would take him to the Citadel. Miranda desperately wanted to meet Samantha there. Miranda looked back to the video feed and watched Samantha take out the android, from the android's point of view. It was impressive to watch, but it wasn't a pleasant view of Sam. _To think I could see that myself...if I hadn't left Cerberus. Thinking if which..._

Miranda pulled out her disguise to cover up her suit. Her hack into the Cerberus system would bring an attack to her location, soon. She needed to go. First to an alternate safe house nearby to check on her sister, then to the Citadel to meet with Sam. She dressed in a loose pantsuit shaped to disguise her body, and collected her bag. Before she left she charged up a localized electromagnetic pulse device to destroy all electronics in the safe house, set to go off when she was out of sight.

Now she found herself waiting for a shuttle to transfer her to the other safe house on Illium. She walked out of the restroom and accessed the local Internet feed, having a little time before her jump. First she sent a coded message to Sam:

_Sam,_

_Glad to see you made it out alive. Meet you on the Citadel. Checking in on O first._

_Love, A._

She sent the message directly to the Normandy, knowing EDI would forward it to Sam.

She accessed a video feed of her sister's living unit, the safest feed to access from a public location, and found nothing. The camera she set up was no longer transmitting. _Maybe something happened to the camera. _She tried not to worry, accessing the second camera. Still nothing. _Both cameras failed?_ She accessed a local video feed of the facility where Oriana's unit was located. The facility was visible, and appeared normal.

She sent an encrypted message to her local intel source and got on the shuttle, concern starting to grow.


	2. Chapter 2

Angel and the Demon

Chapter 2

Bioware owns the rights to all characters other than Samantha.

Oriana Lawson looked up from her terminal and cocked her head, listening. Nothing. No noise of her mother getting ready for dinner. No sounds from her father watching a vid in the lounge. She got up quietly, peering down the hall. She could see a sliver of the kitchen from her room. She saw a hand palm up on the floor. She moved instantly. _Sis warned me about this._

Oriana quickly walked across the hall into her father's office, being as quiet as possible. She hid in the footwell beneath his desk, holding her head low enough to see the floor of the hall. Soon after she saw lower legs and feet clad in black silently pass into her room. After a minute the feet stood in the doorway to her father's office.

"Oriana?!" _That sounds like Miranda!_ Then… _Voices can easily be faked. _She stayed under the desk until the feet left the doorway.

Oriana crept out from under the desk and peered into the hallway. Miranda, or someone who looked a lot like her, was walking down the hall away from her. She was wearing her black and white armor suit. She took the corner into the lounge. Oriana quickly followed, peeking around the corner. Her father was passed out on the floor, but appeared unharmed. Miranda was searching his omni-tool. The suit, her poise, her hair, they all looked like Miranda.

Then she heard something and whipped around, holding a pistol towards Oriana. "Oriana!" Oriana froze. Miranda pulled the pistol back down to her side. "Thank goodness you're alright!" She strode to Oriana and looked her over. "We need to go."

Oriana broke her stunned silence. "Mom and Dad?"

"They'll wake up in a few hours. The phantom gave them a tranquilizer." Miranda said, starting to lead her out of the apartment.

"Phantom?" Oriana asked.

"An elite Cerberus agent who uses a sword and can go invisible. They're impossible to kill."

"So what happened to it?" Oriana asked as they left the building.

"I scared it off, but it will be back." Miranda told her.

"Shouldn't we take them with us?" Oriana asked.

"No time, I'll have some friends pick them up." She led her to a transport, opening the door to let her in. Oriana thought it was odd that Miranda was not looking around for the phantom. _Maybe she's focused on getting away._ Oriana got in the transport. Miranda sat in the driver seat and started the assent.

Oriana sat quietly for a while, then asked. "Where's Sam?"

"Sam?" Miranda asked, and Oriana knew.

"You're not Miranda." Oriana shifted away from her in her seat.

The fake Miranda gave her a sneer, "Time to meet your father, Oriana."

Oriana surprised herself by whipping a fist out and catching the agent in the nose. The agent slammed a fist into her stomach, doubling her over. Then she felt a sharp pain as she was injected with something.

"Bitdch! You're lucgy your dad wands you alibe." Her speech was slurred from her nose bleed. Oriana pulled herself up and leaned against the door weakly. Her vision was getting hazy. The agent wiped her nose. "Bastard made me get this face, and a new fucking voice box." She wasn't talking to Oriana any more. The world went dark. "I fucking hate Miranda Lawson." was the last thing she heard.

00000000

Shepard followed Kaiden's stretcher into the Citadel Hospital, and kept following until they stopped her at the door to the operating rooms. She stared at the doors briefly before walking into the waiting room to have a seat.

Liara was waiting with the Council in the Presidium, but she wanted to make sure Kaiden was going to make it before dealing with them. Staring into the distance she pondered the cruelty of finally getting Kaiden back only to lose him again. As she was sitting she became aware of someone sitting next to her.

"Thane!" She exclaimed when her eyes rose high enough to meet his jet black eyes. They stood to embrace briefly.

"Shepard, it's good to see you." He told her. "I take it the young man they brought in is yours?" They sat back down.

"Yes. One more good person hurt by Cerberus." She hit the arm on her chair.

"I'll watch over him while he's here." Thane told her.

"Thanks Thane." Shepard looked him over. "So how are you doing?" She remembered his terminal condition.

"My favorite doctor gave me three months...nine months ago." He said.

"Does it hurt?" She asked.

"Not really, it's more like not being able to catch one's breath, and I also have numbness in my extremities." Thane told her.

"I'm glad you're not in any pain. I wish there were more we could do." Shepard told him.

"You've done more than enough, Shepard." He leveled a meaning gaze at her.

Someone in a doctor's uniform walked up to them. Shepard stood again looking at the visitor. "Doc? Dr. Chakwas?"

"It is nice to see you again, Shepard. I'm glad you made it off earth in one piece." Chakwas told her. "I wanted to give you the latest about your friend, Lieutenant Commander Alenko." Thane moved away to give them some privacy.

"How is he doing?" Shepard asked.

"He'll live, though it was a close call. He will be on bed rest for several weeks, but he should be up and running after that."

"Good, good." Shepard said.

"He's in very good hands. Dr. Michel is one of the best." Chakwas told her.

"Thanks Doc." Shepard gave her a smile. "You know...the Normandy med bay isn't the same without you..."

"Is that an invitation?" Shepard nodded. "I'll be back on the Normandy before you leave the Citadel. Someone has to keep you patched up." Chakwas told her with a smile.

00000000

The Illusive Man watched the video feed from the android. Shepard was still an impressive warrior. Six accurate pistol shots and a warp in 3.7 seconds destroyed the android. It was a pity she was an idealist. The screen went blank as the android lost signal.

During the last six months Cerberus had made huge advances with recovered Reaper tech, all thanks to the Alliance locking Shepard away. With her and her team out of the picture Cerberus had free reign in the universe. He started the vid up again.

"Henry Lawson's daughter is in custody." Kai Leng said from behind him.

"Good." He said. "Any sign of Miranda?"

"None yet. We have a team..."

"Send another one."

"Sir?" Kai Leng asked.

"Send another team." He reiterated.

"I hardly think Miranda is..."

"I'm not concerned about Miranda." He paused the playback showing Shepard decimating the android. "I'm concerned about Miranda and her." He pointed to Shepard on the screen. "Together they make up the largest threat to Cerberus, anywhere. Leak information about the sister if you have to. I want Miranda neutralized." He sat down and took a drag from a cigarette.

"Sir." Kai Leng nodded.

"Study this footage. You'll need to take out Shepard eventually." The Illusive Man waved him away. Kai Leng left.

00000000

Shepard grumbled as she returned to the Normandy. Every one of the councilors turtled, curling back into their shell in fear. They would not be uniting to defeat the reapers, because each of them would pull their fleets back to their own world for protection, as if that would help, ultimately making it easier for the Reapers. The one crumb thrown her direction came from the turian councilor, though it was pretty suspect. _Save our Primarch and maybe we'll help._ Only problem was, Shepard didn't have any other options.

Before leaving the chamber the council reinstated Shepard's Spectre status, which she immediately used to pardon everyone on the ship during the collector base attack. At least Miranda would have one less international conglomerate after her. Engineers Gabriella Daniels and Kenneth Donnelly had outstanding requests to resume duty on the Normandy, which Shepard granted. She wanted all the engineers she could possibly get. Ideally Tali would join her, for more than one reason, but the Migrant Fleet was currently out of reach. Shepard suspected they were up to something, and Tali was with them.

Upon entering to the Normandy Shepard was introduced to her new personal assistant, Samantha Traynor, formerly a lab tech for the Normandy retrofit. She seemed competent enough, and EDI even put in a good word for her. Traynor gave her a run down on the changes to the Normandy.

The entire tech lab, armory, and briefing room had been gutted to add a sort of war room, where representatives from other races could stay during the Normandy's travels. A security gate kept the representatives from accessing the rest of the ship. The armory was moved into the cargo bay. Other than cosmetic changes the rest of the ship was pretty much the same.

She checked her messages and smiled at the short note from Miranda, then frowned at the time stamp. The message was sent too long ago. _She should be here by now._ She considered delaying departure, but knew she couldn't wait.

Shepard gave Joker the order to head to Palaven before taking a walk around the ship. She went to Miranda's office just to see what was being done with it, only to find Liara setting up a bank of monitors.

"Moving right in Liara?" Shepard asked, looking at a huge array of monitors along one wall.

"I'd be a poor Shadow Broker indeed if I cut off all communication." Liara said before catching the sad look on Shepard's face. "I'm sorry Shepard, were you hoping to keep this room for..."

"It's fine, Liara. Memories grabbed me for a few seconds. If I can convince her to join the crew, Miranda will join me in the captain's quarters."

"Of course." Liara said.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Shepard asked.

"Anything, Shepard."

"Can you keep a search running for info about Miranda and her sister, Oriana?"

"Already done. Miranda has been very careful. All suspected sightings have been low probability. I suspect she is using a costume that hides her face and body shape, and I imagine she has several safe houses."

"Good girl." Shepard smiled.

"I haven't received any news recently about Oriana. The surveillance team watching her gave a normal report yesterday."

"Send a status request to them."

Liara typed briefly on a terminal. "Done."

"Thanks Liara. I'm glad you're back." Shepard left and continued her tour of the ship.

00000000

Miranda stepped over another of Liara's agents to reach a terminal. Once again finding the surveillance footage destroyed. Unless Liara had offsite storage they were out of luck. She composed a message to Dr. T'soni.

_Shadow Broker,_

_Surveillance team for Oriana killed. All onsite data destroyed. Killer used a long sharp implement. I suspect an agent from the Cerberus project "Phantom" using a monomolecular sword. I will inspect the apartment now, but I suspect the worst._

_-ML_

Miranda pulled out her pistol and SMG. She had her tactical suit under her disguise. She kicked on her shield as she returned to her transport. Oriana's apartment faced the surveillance site, so the trip did not take long.

Miranda pulled out the access card she found at the surveillance site, opening the door with her pistol ready. There was no evidence of violence, so she continued through the apartment. She found Oriana's adopted mother in the kitchen, alive but knocked out. Her adopted father was similarly disposed in the lounge. The rest of the apartment was empty.

Miranda accessed the father's omni tool and found an eerie record in the home surveillance. It looked like her, entering the apartment and knocking out the parents with a tranquilizer dart, then walking into the back, returning soon after. Oriana appeared in a doorway behind the copy. Miranda's heart skipped a beat when the copy whirled on Oriana with pistol raised. She relaxed slightly when the pistol was lowered, though soon after the copy dragged Oriana from the apartment, presumably to a nearby transport. Her copy must be very similar to fool Oriana. She wondered if it were a clone or simply facial reconstruction with a voice box change. This had to be the Phantom that took out Liara's team.

Miranda turned to the sound of troops landing on the terrace outside. She grabbed Oriana's father and pulled him behind a couch, then quickly moved to the side of the doorway. The door to the lounge was a direct line to the door to the kitchen, which faced the entrance. An assault trooper filled the main entrance. Miranda cut him down with a warp and pistol fire. A centurion cloud filled the door. Miranda ran into the kitchen and dragged Oriana's mother into the lounge, propping her up next to her husband. She moved back to peek around the door, then pulled away as gunfire erupted through the cloud. The centurion exited the cloud just in time for an overload. She leveled her pistol and took him down soon after. She shifted to the other side of the doorway. A grenade landed and she kicked it back into the cloud. The explosion and shouts gave her the time to move into the kitchen, hugging the wall. The cloud cleared and Miranda took out another trooper. Another cloud appeared. Miranda pushed herself against the wall near the door, keeping perfectly still.

After the kitchen was the entrance area, with the terrace beyond that. She could hear steps approaching cautiously. She held her gun at the edge of the door. The metal shield of a guardian appeared. As his head appeared she pushed her pistol against his head and pulled the trigger. He crumpled to the floor. Another shield carrying guardian was right behind him, and lashed out his shield at her. Her pistol was knocked to the floor. She spun away from him and pulled her SMG off her back. He killed her shield with a couple shots. He rounded the corner, shield still towards her, reloading. Miranda leapt at him, grabbing his gun arm. She put her SMG right up against the slot in the shield and emptied her clip. She picked up her pistol as he collapsed.

A grenade caught her by surprise. Luckily it landed under one of the metal shields. Unluckily it launched the shield across the room, knocking her against the kitchen cabinets. Her blond wig flew away. Seeing double she tried to steady her pistol at the door. _I need to get out before another squad arrives. There has to be at least one more centurion, and probably a couple more troopers._ She moved back towards the wall. Another cloud erupted in the doorway.

The centurion breached the cloud to an immediate overload. She ran at him firing. Her clip ended so she caught him under the chin with the butt of her gun. She ran through the cloud reloading. An assault trooper was shocked to see her and didn't get his gun up fast enough. She pushed him over, exiting the cloud to see a final trooper standing guard on the terrace. She stunned him with an overload, then took his assault rifle away. She kicked him over the edge to the terrace below. The Cerberus shuttle started to pull away from the terrace.

She turned to see the cloud finally clear. The trooper she toppled was trying to right himself. She tore into him with the assault rifle before whipping around to get the shuttle pilot moving. A few shots to the windscreen and the shuttle lurched from the sudden increase in power, leaving the area quickly.

Miranda considered carrying Oriana's parents to her shuttle but decided they were safer far away from her. The kidnapper had obviously not been interested in them. She ran to her transport and took off, resolving to switch disguises at her next stop.

_Shadow Broker,_

_Oriana missing as expected. Abductor very similar or clone of me, including voice. Oriana's parents knocked out but alive, left in apartment. Please take them to an alternate safe house. Cerberus squad attacked after entrance to apartment, all dead. Local law enforcement likely en route. Heading to public area to switch disguise._

_I need an untraceable Cerberus terminal to track Henry Lawson. Current hacking draws Cerberus within hour. Please advise._

_-ML_

_ps. I'm likely to be away from Sam for much longer than intended. Please help her sleep._

00000000

Shepard was leaning against the med bay desk as Chakwas inspected her. She looked at her with concern. Dark bags hung under her eyes, and her brow was creased with concern. Chakwas gave her a quick once over, checking her eyes, ears, and blood pressure. She was in surprisingly good health considering her general appearance.

"Shepard, you need to get some rest. I can give you..." She started.

"You know how I feel about those drugs, doc." Shepard answered.

"And you don't want to ask Liara to..." Shepard looked at the floor.

"I...I'm not sure..." She trailed off.

"You know Ms. Lawson wouldn't want you to get hurt because you were too sleepy to fight properly." Chakwas admonished her.

"It would feel like I was cheating on her." Shepard said.

"Is that what she would think?" Chakwas asked.

"I…don't know. The question never came up."

"I think you know the answer." Chakwas had her breathe deeply a couple times before running a check on her implants. She looked back at Shepard's face to see the worry still written there.

"What else is bothering you, Commander?" Chakwas looked into her eyes.

Shepard looked at her, then answered. "Miranda and Oriana, Miranda's sister… Miranda was going to meet me at the Citadel after checking on Ori, but she didn't. So I fear Cerberus found them, and I can't do a damn thing about it, because I'm flying around the universe rallying fleets to fight the reapers."

"Ms. Lawson is quite capable. I'm sure she has the situation under control." Chakwas told her.

"I know, doc. I still worry." Shepard stood up and walked towards the door.

"Shepard, get some rest during the trip to Palaven. It will be couple hours." Shepard looked back at her wearily. "I can shoot you with a tranquilizer if necessary." Chakwas gave her a sly smile.

Once Shepard left the med bay Chakwas composed a message to Liara.

00000000

Menae, the moon circling Palaven, was crawling with reapers. Liara could see several of the huge reapers in the distance. Balls of fire were dropping reaper underlings everywhere. She worried about Garrus. Last she knew, he was somewhere on the turian home world, which looked even worse than the moon. She forced her thoughts elsewhere.

Liara thought about the messages she received from Miranda and Dr. Chakwas.

Miranda's messages primarily concerned her sister. Cerberus found Oriana and wiped out her surveillance group before they knew they were made. Cerberus either had someone inside the her organization, or Liara was dealing with the best of the best...maybe both. She resolved to carefully analyze the supervisors assigned to Oriana.

She sent a couple Shadow Broker squads to deal with the mess before joining Shepard on the shuttle. Her drone was exploring Cerberus network access.

The last part of Miranda's message, combined with Dr. Chakwas' plea did not take her by surprise. During their tour on the original Normandy Shepard had been a wreck from lack of sleep, especially after Virmire. Liara got the whole story when joining minds to analyze the prothean signal. Nightmares woke Shepard every night, cutting her rem cycle short. Shepard was in bad enough shape that Chakwas forced her to sleep in the med bay so she could analyze her sleep patterns. Liara just happened to be in the med bay when Shepard started having a nightmare. She looked so sad Liara had stroked her arm. The difference in Shepard's sleep had been immediate. Chakwas had stopped just short of forcing her to sleep with the commander.

It was a little weird at first, but Liara had grown used to sleeping with the commander. Shepard hadn't tried to touch Liara in a sexual manner, except once while dreaming. Liara hadn't minded, but when Shepard woke she was mortified, apologizing profusely. Liara didn't have any love interests, and would have pursued her if Shepard hadn't been perfectly clear from the beginning. Ashley was all she desired. After Ashley sacrificed herself on Virmire Shepard closed herself off completely. She barely survived the emotional toll, and decided no emotional commitment was easier to handle. Liara disagreed, but did not force the issue. Later, after her rebirth by Cerberus, Shepard found it in her heart to love again. It hurt that she chose a Cerberus agent instead of her, but personal interest was impossible to predict. On one hand, she was pleased when she found out about Shepard and Miranda, on the other hand, she was unhappy about her choice. Why did she choose Miranda over her? In time she grew to accept her decision, though it still hurt. She had never seen Shepard as happy and healthy as the week before they locked her up.

Now Shepard was in bad shape again, and Liara had assistance requests from both her lover and her doctor. Shepard was dear friend, and Liara wanted to help. Could she sleep with the commander without emotional attachment? She had once before, but at the time there was still a chance Shepard would change her mind. Now Shepard was committed to another, and Liara was being asked to maintain physical closeness while keeping emotional detachment. Liara would have to keep her emotions in check somehow.

"The LZ is crawling with husks." Cortez announced from the cockpit. _Landing zone. I need to relearn these military acronyms._ Liara thought to herself.

The shuttle door opened. Shepard took ahold of the high caliber gun mount and started blasting. Husk after husk exploded into mush. Liara couldn't help but be impressed. Shepard was even better than during her run through the old Shadow Broker's base.

The shuttle reached the surface and Shepard jumped out. Liara followed with James. A few more husks and they were in the nearest turian base camp. Temporary buildings were set up along the perimeter with gates at each end. Shepard quickly found the commanding officer, a General Corinthus, and started discussing the Primarch. It turns out the Primarch was dead, and they didn't know who was next. Not only that, but the base was in the dark. Their communication tower was offline.

"Let's get that communication tower working." Shepard told her and James.

They traveled to the other end of the temporary base, leaving through a gate. They quickly found the tower, and the large number of husks surrounding it. Liara concentrated on throwing singularities into clusters of husks, letting Shepard warp them to oblivion. They approached the tower in a few minutes.

"Damnit, no techies. Where's Tali when you need her." Shepard said. Liara couldn't help but smile. "Liara, contact EDI and see what you can do up there."

"Yes, Shepard." Fixing a communication tower was outside her speciality, but she did as she was told. She climbed a ladder to the access panel and opened it up. "EDI? Can you access the panel?"

"One moment, Dr. T'soni." EDI connected to the panel through her omni tool. Liara looked down to see Shepard knock a husk off James before smashing its head. She then turned and threw a shockwave into another batch of husks. An outsider might view Shepard as barely contained fury, just maintaining enough control to stay alive, but Liara knew better. Shepard was completely controlled. It was one of the reasons it hurt her so badly to lose someone.

EDI announced. "I have accessed the tower, Dr. T'soni. Communication is cut off completely, though it still seems to be reaching the input terminal. Check for a broken or missing cable."

Liara looked up and shook her head, feeling like an idiot. Right above the panel was a dangling cable, obviously knocked loose somehow. "Thank you, EDI." She reached up and put the terminal back into the socket.

"You are welcome, Dr..." EDI cut off unexpectedly.

"EDI?" Liara asked as she crawled back down to Shepard and James at the base of the tower. There was no response.

"All good?" Shepard asked.

"I think so..." Liara started.

"Commander Shepard. Communication is back on-line, please return to me." The turian base commander confirmed her fix worked. They headed back to the base camp, taking out a few husks on the way.

They approached the turian commander to find a familiar face.

"Garrus!" Shepard exclaimed. Liara smiled, glad to see her turian friend alive.

"Good to see you Shepard." He shook her hand warmly. "We'll find you the Primarch."

"Glad to see you alive. I thought you'd be on Palaven." Shepard told him.

"If we lose this moon, we lose Palaven. I'm the closest damn thing to a reaper expert we have, so I'm...advising."

"James, this is Garrus Vakarian. He's a hell of a soldier." James walked up and shook Garrus' hand.

"Lieutenant." Garrus said. "Good to see you too, Liara." Liara smiled.

"Good to see you in one piece, Garrus." She told him.

General Corinthus interrupted. "The next turian Primarch is General Adrien Victus. Unfortunately his whereabouts are unknown."

"Good man." Garrus said. "I was fighting beside him this morning. I'll take you where I last saw him." Shepard nodded and they followed Garrus away from the general.

"Commander!" Joker called over the radio. "Shepard, come in!"

"Can this wait, Joker? We're kinda busy."

"We've got a situation on the Normandy, Commander. It's like she's possessed, shutting down systems and powering up weapons. I can't find the source and EDI's not responding!" Joker told her.

"Would you like me to go take a look?" Liara offered.

"Do it." Shepard told her, following Garrus to the other end of the camp. Liara called Cortez on the shuttle.

00000000

"What can you tell me, Joker?" Liara asked as she entered the Normandy.

"Systems started shutting down at random, and the main gun was powered up then back down. I have no idea what's going on, and EDI isn't responding. You might check the server room. There seems to be some sort of electrical fire."

Liara entered the med bay, telling Dr. Chakwas to head out for a few minutes. A pair of crewmen joined her with fire extinguishers. "Open it." She told them.

The lead crewman opened the door and sprayed the room with the extinguisher, putting out the few fires, then nodded to her. The room was filled with smoke, and Liara couldn't see anything.

The servers powered up on either side of the room and fans kicked on. "EDI?" She said as the haze cleared. A metallic leg appeared.

"Yes, Dr. T'soni? Did you need anything?" The former Dr. Eva Core walked out, minus the fake skin coating. Liara couldn't help but back up a step.

"EDI, is that you?" Liara asked.

"I am in this platform, as well as in the ship." EDI told her.

"You're in Dr. Eva Core's body? Why?" Liara asked.

"This platform offers greater mobility, allowing me to access areas unavailable to the Normandy." EDI said.

"Where were you planning on going?" Liara asked.

"I should be able to assist during missions away from the ship."

"You want to go on missions?" Liara asked incredulously. _Shepard's going to love this._

"Yes." EDI said.

"Be careful around the crew EDI. That platform was shooting at them not that long ago."

"Yes. I think I will take it to see Joker in the cockpit." With that EDI left.

00000000

Kai Leng walked through the former Oriana household. The two parents had been removed by unknown agents just an hour before, but the corpses of the Cerberus assault team were strewn about the entrance and kitchen. Any internal surveillance footage had been destroyed by a small electromagnetic pulse, but they had a little footage from the Cerberus shuttle. He was holding a still showing Miranda Lawson looking directly into the camera after decimating the squad.

_The Illusive Man was right. Miranda has improved quite a bit from her Cerberus training. No doubt from her time with Shepard on the Collector mission. If only I sent a Phantom/Nemesis squad instead._

Local surveillance footage showed Miranda escaping in a shuttle and disappearing into a trade center. They had 13 different people with similar height and build exiting the center within the next 30 minutes. Half of them visited other busy areas where more similar body types left. The exponential possibilities made finding the actual Miranda almost impossible. The search was made even more complicated because Cerberus had 6 agents with the same face, build, and voice scattered around the universe.

It was more likely they would catch her when she hacked into Cerberus for another time.

"I want phantom teams on all major worlds and in all major and minor systems. We need access to any world within 30 minutes." He told the phantom next to him. She nodded. He looked at the bandage on her nose. "Get Oriana to our secure facility, and do not harm her again. We need her alive and well. You're on baby-sitting duty until we fix your face." She scowled, then left.

He looked over the rest of the troops on the floor. He could imagine the battle in his mind, but he still wished he could view it in real time. It would be a great training video for the troops. _This is what happens when you underestimate your adversary._

"Did you catch Miranda?" The Illusive Man asked through his com link.

"No. The squad needed phantoms." He answered.

"Do not place too much value in your precious phantoms. They have yet to prove themselves against a real foe, like Shepard." His brow furrowed.

"I am placing squads on every major world and in every populated system." Leng said.

"Expensive. Don't make me regret putting you in charge of this project." The Illusive Man cut the connection.

"Sir." He said to his arm. Miranda would be looking for a direct access Cerberus terminal. He needed to find the vulnerable ones. He left to climb into his shuttle.

00000000

Shepard lay back on her bed with her arm over her forehead, staring at the ceiling. The turian Primarch would give her the turian forces, if she convinced the krogans to help on Palaven. She could guess what the krogans would desire before they would join that battle.

They also had a few new crew members. She was pleased to have Garrus back. Having him on the battlefield was great, and his calibration work on the big gun was wonderful. She asked about Tali, but he didn't know much more than she. Tali returned to the migrant fleet right before the fleet went silent. All absent quarians were abandoned. They both suspected a quarian attack on the geth, something Shepard dreaded.

The second new member was unexpected. EDI somehow hacked a part of herself into the former Dr. Eva Core's android body. Shepard had tripped when she saw her sitting in the copilot's seat. EDI assured her the unit was safe, and conducted some kind of test to prove it. Shepard wasn't sure about taking her on missions, but the android had definitely been hard to disable.

On a disturbing note, Oriana had been taken and Miranda was on the run. Miranda was still looking for a safe way off Illium, and Liara was looking for a Cerberus location that could be infiltrated quietly. Shepard couldn't help but wonder if they found Oriana by tracing the message she sent before the reaper attack. Shepard offered the Normandy to infiltrate the Cerberus base once discovered, but until then she was in a holding pattern.

Shepard was being curt with her new assistant and she knew it. Samantha Traynor was similar to Miranda in several ways, and Shepard was forcing herself to be much more professional than normal to keep herself from showing interest. Traynor's accent and physical shape was so close to Miranda it was hard to deny. It didn't help that Shepard was horny as hell. No sex for five months was shockingly hard to endure. Even taking the job into her own hands was barely keeping her in check. While walking through the ship she forced herself to stare straight ahead. Liara, Traynor, and..._damnit_...even EDI's new body were pulling her attention. _I had no sex for years! Why is this so hard?_

Shepard stripped down and climbed under the covers._ I miss you so much, Angel._ Too exhausted to give herself relief, she drifted off in seconds.


	3. Chapter 3

Samantha's Angel versus the Demon

Chapter 3

Bioware owns the rights to all characters other than Samantha.

_Shepard found herself in a forest. This forest wasn't like the tropical paradise where they found Jacob's father, it was dark and forbidding. Sparse tree trunks, dead leaves, and low bushes stretched in every direction. While she pondered her location she heard a laugh in the distance, a child's laugh. She looked around._

_A small boy was crouched in the leaves a little way off. She walked towards him. Her movement was slow, like she was walking through water. She attempted to walk faster but couldn't. When she got within a few feet of the boy, the signature sound of a reaper overwhelmed Shepard. She looked around. The boy took off around a stand of trees._

00000000

"Dr. T'soni, Commander Shepard's sleep cycle is erratic." EDI announced to Liara.

Liara looked up from her terminal. "Oh! I forgot!" She left her terminal and looked for something to sleep in.

She paused. "What made you bring it up?" She asked EDI.

"Operative Lawson set up a program to alert her when Shepard's rem cycle was interrupted. Dr. Chakwas instructed me to resume the program with you as the recipient."

"I see. Thank you EDI." She got dressed in some knit pants and top, then left her office.

00000000

_Shepard continued her excruciatingly slow chase of the young boy. He ran around another grove of trees and she followed, moving through mud, it seemed. She turned a corner and searched for him again. Seeing him beyond another set of trees she kept up the chase._

00000000

EDI let Liara in the Commander's room, opening the door without the usual greeting tone. Liara allowed her eyes adjust to the dim, and crept to the bed. It felt weird to be doing this without the Commander's express permission, but Dr. Chakwas assured her it would be fine.

Liara found Shepard's backside and lifted the covers. _Whoops. _Shepard was nude under the covers. Liara wasn't about to snuggle up to a nude Shepard. That would be too tempting. She dropped the covers.

00000000

_Shepard approached the boy, and again the reaper call sent him running away. She couldn't understand why she needed to chase the boy, but she felt something urging her forward. She restarted the chase, eventually nearing him again. This time he turned to look at her. Shepard crouched in front of him only to see his pants start to catch fire. She found herself frozen in place, unable to move as the fire raced up his clothing to consume him._

_Suddenly the fire faded away, quickly followed by the boy. Shepard found she could move once again, and looked around at the forest. The faint reaper noises disappeared entirely. The forest lost its oppressive feeling, and became unremarkable, boring. A calm came over her._

00000000

Liara settled down next to Shepard, her hand still on her shoulder. She hoped it would be enough. She was on top of the covers behind Shepard, against her but not skin to skin. She listened to Shepard's breathing over the hum of the ship's engines, it became deep and relaxed. _It's working._ She let herself relax and wind her mind down to sleep.

00000000

"Commander, arriving at Grissom Academy in one hour." Joker announced.

"But that was supposed to take all night..." Shepard mumbled to herself. She checked the time, then felt the warmth against her back. She looked at her shoulder and saw a blue hand. She turned over quickly. "Liara!" She almost bolted from bed before she realized she was naked under the sheets. She pulled her sheet up to her chin.

"Morning Shepard. Sleep well?" Liara said through sleepy eyes.

"Well...yes. Umm. Thank you." Shepard stammered.

"You're welcome." Liara said with a lazy smile.

"Umm...why are you here?" Shepard asked, still holding the sheet up.

"Because you need this...and because Dr. Chakwas asked me to." Liara answered.

"I see..." She again felt both ashamed of needing the help and thankful she had friends who were willing. "Thank you."

"It's no trouble, Shepard." Liara paused to look at Shepard's hands holding the covers. "Would you like me to face away?" Shepard blushed.

"Please Liara." Liara rolled over and faced the wall. Shepard got out and wrapped a towel around herself. She noticed Liara was lying on top of the covers. "I'll wear more tomorrow, so you don't have to sleep on top of the covers."

"Thank you, Shepard. That would be best." Liara rose, gave Shepard a hug, and left the room.

Shepard shook her head and went to the shower.

00000000

"Stupid!" Jack's fist met no resistance before connecting with Shepard's jaw. "Didn't I tell you Cerberus would screw you over? Didn't I?" Shepard saw stars at the edge of her vision, but refused to react to the blow.

"You aren't telling me anything I haven't already said to myself, Jack." Shepard tried not to show how much her jaw hurt. A crowd of students looked at Shepard in awe. Jack sent the students away to refuel with juice and snacks.

Grissom Academy was a school for gifted students, some of whom were biotics. In the irony of ironies Jack was a professor at the school. Traynor told Shepard about the school when she returned from Palaven, stating that the "no need for rescue" call appeared fake, and she should check it out. Shepard arrived to find Cerberus troops crawling all over the school, dragging the students away for who knows what nefarious purpose. Shepard found a way in through a maintenance bay and was cutting her way through Cerberus to any remaining students. Nothing shocked Shepard more than to find Jack with a group of students in the cafeteria.

"Garrus, you old bird. How the h...heck are you?" Jack seemed to stutter on the quasi-curse.

"Good, Jack. Nice to see you wear more clothes around students." Jack gave him a crooked smile. She was wearing a vest that covered part of her chest and some of her tattoos.

"Who's the blue babe?" She asked.

"The 'blue babe' is Dr. Liara T'soni. She's a prothean expert and a close personal friend." Liara nodded at the tattooed girl.

"Close personal friend, huh? Where's the cheerleader?" Jack's smirk told Shepard she thought she was stirring something up.

"Miranda has been on the run from both Cerberus and the Alliance for six months now. I'd give her a break if I was you." Shepard let her biotics light up before killing them just as quickly. A gasp came from the crowd of students. Jack showed admirable restraint by dropping the issue.

"Nice to see you didn't forget how to use your biotics while you were in prison, Shepard."

"They don't keep you from using biotics, just guns." Shepard gave Jack her own crooked smile. "Now, if I might suggest, let's get your students out of here."

"Right. You'll have to go through the atrium, which is crawling with Cerberus assho...jerks." Jack told her, cutting her curse off.

"Ok. We'll take care of it. Keep the students safe." Shepard turned to leave.

"We want to help!" One of the students called to her.

"It's too dangerous." Shepard said.

"They could stay in the mezzanine. They could use warp from a safe distance." Jack told her. Shepard scrutinized her closely. "They'll be fine," she turned to face her students, "as long as they keep their barriers up!" Shepard couldn't help but smile at the curious change of events.

"Fine. Stay safe. Only attack when you have full barriers." Shepard told the students, then turned to the main door of the atrium. Jack led the students towards the mezzanine.

The Atrium was crawling with Cerberus troops, including an Atlas mobile platform. "Damn. Stay out of that thing's sights!" She told her squad.

The Atrium was circular with several meter high tiers angling downward to a flat area in the middle. The tiers were on their right, sloping down to the flat area on the left. Beyond the flat area was a pool of water. The tiers were split with a wall, effectively breaking the vast room into two halves. There was a sloped walkway arcing above the tiers to their right. The Atlas was sitting in the flat area in the middle. There were already a couple guardians with their shields on the walkway. A couple combat engineers were setting up turrets behind them. On the tiers were a couple more guardians and some centurions. There were several sets of stairs between the tiers. As Shepard watched, a centurion set off a cloud.

"I'll clear the walkway, hold those guys back." She shifted up the walkway to a crate, staying below the railing. The two guardians were a few feet in front. Taking the time to aim through the slot in the guardian's shields would leave her exposed for the turrets. She needed to move quickly.

She peeked over the crate quickly, giving them all something to shoot at, then ducked back down when they fired. The instant they stopped to reload she ran towards the first guardian, throwing a shockwave en route. His shield was was pulled to the side. While he was still wavering Shepard emptied her clip into him. She grabbed his shield as he fell, propping it in front of herself. The other guardian was a few feet from her. The turrets laid into her shield. Shepard shifted to put the guardian between her and the turrets, hoping they wouldn't realize he was between them. They stopped shooting. _No luck, they have better friend foe recognition than I thought_. She looked through the slot and aimed her gun at the final guardian's foot. A few shots and the guardian's lower leg snapped. He leaned to one side involuntarily. Shepard stood and smacked her shield against him opposite his wounded foot. He fell over. She kicked his weapon away and propped her shield back up before the turrets obliterated her kinetic shield. The guardian struggled to stand, dropping his shield. Shepard blasted until he stopped twitching. His shield slid down the slope to bang loudly against a wall below.

The turrets continued to hammer against her metal barrier. Shepard moved closer and shifted behind a crate. She peeked over once again to check them out. The turrets were a few feet apart, with their combat engineers behind them. She hefted the weight of the shield, finding the center of gravity. She hopped up and sent the shield flying at the closer of the turrets, then pulled out her SMG and blasted at the other. The heavy shield smashed the turret completely. The second turret lost its shield and Shepard sent a warp. She ducked back behind the crate as her kinetic shield gave way. She peeked around the edge and blasted the turret to wreckage. She noticed one of the engineers setting up another turret. As soon as her shields were back up she laid into the engineer. She pushed her shield to get both engineers down and took a few shots to the shoulder. Her armor took most of the impact, but it hurt none the less.

She turned to look at the rest of the battle and took an Atlas rocket square in the chest.

Garrus was doing his best to beat down the Atlas' shield when it abruptly turned away and fired on Shepard. There wasn't any reason for him to fire on her... other than the heavy bounty the Illusive Man placed on her head. She was easy to see in her green armor, so the troops took pains to focus on her. She was usually careful enough to stay protected. Garrus was betting lack of sleep was effecting her.

"Liara! Go help Shepard!" Liara turned and ran up the slope to her location. He set his rifle up and started on the Atlas again. Two centurions dropped through the sky-light. "We need her!"

Liara glanced at the two centurions and sped up. Shepard was in a crumple against the wall. Liara kneeled next to her and pulled her up. She was bleeding from under her helmet, but looked at Liara as she propped her up.

"Are you alright, Shepard?" She asked.

"Huh?" She wasn't hearing very well, but she got the gist of the question. "Yes, just...got...the wind...knocked out of me." Shepard pulled herself up and wiped at her chin. She looked at the blood oddly.

"Let me..." Liara started.

"Not now. After. Right...now, I'm going to...kill that thing." Shepard said, pushing Liara away and moving up to the railing.

"Are you sure?" Liara asked. Shepard didn't respond. Liara assumed the blood was from Shepard's ears. Shepard pulled out her pistol and rose above the railing. The Atlas rotated from Garrus to Shepard but didn't get a chance to do anything. Shepard let out a barrage of bullets that obliterated whatever was left of its armor. It fell over and exploded, leaving a crater in the floor. The centurions didn't last much longer.

"All right." Shepard said, smiling as Garrus ran up to them.

"Are you ok?" Garrus asked.

Shepard tilted her head at him. Then said "I'm fine." Her voice was just a little too loud.

"I think she's lost some hearing. The blood is from her ears. I don't know if medi gel will do any good." Liara told him.

"I see, let's take care of the rest of these guys and get the students out of here." Garrus said with a smirk. Shepard was looking between them with some confusion.

The next half of the Atrium was similar to the first, except Shepard had to access the bottom of the tiers in order to reach the ramp to the walkway. Garrus did his best to cover her as she ran the route with little cover. After that he let her do her stuff, knowing she wouldn't hear him if he called.

"Engineer, Liara. I've got the turret." Garrus overloaded the turret before putting a sniper shot through its casing. It exploded. Liara was still shooting at the engineer so he took him out with a headshot. They split up to take out a couple troopers, then combined again for a centurion.

Garrus glanced back up at Shepard to see her throw a guardian shield over the railing above, quickly followed by the guardian.

"She is something to watch." He told Liara.

Liara looked to Garrus, then to the guardian as he crashed into the ground. "Yes, she is."

"The last six months without her have been very dull." Garrus said, overloading a centurion.

"I imagine trying to convince bureaucrats to prepare for the Reapers would be dull for anyone, Garrus." Liara said shooting at the centurion.

"You would be correct, Liara." Garrus lined up a shot on a turret, finishing it off. "Throw a singularity up there for Shepard."

Liara looked up to see Shepard working on another pair of guardians. She formed the singularity between them, pulling them into the air and giving Shepard an easier shot.

"You've got incredible aim with those things." Garrus said. The last Cerberus troop crumpled from a headshot.

"And you've still got incredible aim with that thing." Liara pointed to his Mantis.

"We all have our talents." Garrus smiled. The students were cheering in the mezzanine. Shepard was searching for ammo clips. "Liara, it's none of my business, but I heard a rumor you were sleeping with the commander again."

"It's purely platonic, I assure you."

"You know she's in love with Miranda." Garrus told her.

"I am aware. The arrangement is at Miranda's request." Liara told him.

"I see. Be careful it doesn't become more." Garrus told her.

"I'm…trying." Liara said. Garrus looked at her carefully.

Shepard walked up, rubbing her ear. "Let's go." She told them a little too loudly, turning towards the door.

The remaining Cerberus troops were in disarray. They were lying over the loudspeakers in a weak attempt to lure students to them. The team even found a functional Atlas mobile attack platform sitting unattended in a hallway. The windscreen was smashed, but everything else worked fine. Shepard hopped in and clomped off towards the remaining Cerberus force.

Liara couldn't keep the smile from her face as Shepard gleefully ran the Atlas around the staging area wiping out Cerberus troops. Her laughter erupted through the broken windscreen with each downed centurion. The Atlas was powerful enough to tear through even the best shield. Liara and Garrus hung out behind and took care of anyone fast enough to get past Shepard's gunfire.

Once Cerberus had their asses handed to them, the students were loaded onto a shuttle and returned to the Normandy. They wanted to help with the war, but Shepard only agreed to support roles. The students were disappointed, but Jack was strangely accepting of the less dangerous roles for her charges. Liara couldn't help but smile.

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"Good job with the Grissom Academy research, Traynor." Shepard told the former lab assistant.

"Thank you, Commander."

"I mean it, Traynor. Not many people would sort through the data thoroughly enough to decode a false rescue signal. You saved a large group of students and a personal friend of mine. Very good job." Shepard told her with a nod.

"Of course commander. Thank you!" Traynor answered. Shepard gave her a warm smile. After a moment she turned and practically ran to the elevator.

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Shepard watched Kaiden as he rested. She visited Huerta Memorial Hospital whenever she was near the Citadel. Usually just to watch Kaiden sleep, but they had spoken once or twice. There was still a level of animosity Shepard could feel, but she didn't hold it against him.

"Commander." Kaiden awoke.

"Hey Kaiden, how are you doing?"

"I feel like shit, but I'm getting better." His face was still discolored with bruises, but wasn't nearly as swollen as previous visits.

"Good, I guess." Shepard told him with a smile. "How long until you get released?"

"A couple of weeks." Kaiden said. "Listen, Shepard, Udina offered me a position as a Spectre."

"That's...great! Congratulations!" Shepard told him. She would miss him on her squad, but it was a great promotion.

"I haven't given him an answer yet."

"It's a great opportunity." Shepard smiled at him.

"I know..." He said.

"You'll make a great Spectre, Kaiden."

"Thanks, Commander. I still want to be on the Normandy, but to be a Spectre...wow."

"I'll definitely miss you, Kaiden, but this opportunity is too big to pass up." Shepard told him.

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"Welcome, Shadow Broker, I have a Cerberus site that would be ideal for Ms. Lawson's requirements." The glowing drone said as Liara opened her door.

"Where is it?" Liara asked as the door closed behind her.

"Planet Sanctum in the Decorus system of Sigurd's Cradle. It is a secret location only known to a small segment of Cerberus. The team there is studying Reaper artifacts." The drone told her.

"And yet we can't find Oriana herself." Liara said.

"It is suspected her location is only known to The Illusive Man and two others."

"I see. We might be able to convince Admiral Hackett to authorize a mission for those Reaper artifacts. Try to contact Miranda on her secure link."

00000000

Shepard was in engineering, greeting Gabby and Kenneth for the first time since their return to the Normandy.

"Where's Ms. Lawson, Commander?" Kenneth asked. Miranda saved the two engineers from painful death on the collector base, so there was a bit of hero worship between them.

"She still on the run from Cerberus, Ken." Shepard said.

"Wouldn't she be safer on the ship, Commander?" Gabby asked.

"Yes, but her sister's been abducted, and she's looking for her. We're going to help as soon as she knows where she is."

"Good." Ken said.

"Once we rescue them we should keep them on the ship." Gabby said.

"Oriana is pretty young, Gabby." Shepard said with a smile.

"All the more reason. The Normandy is the safest ship in the universe." Ken said.

"It might not be for too much longer, Ken. Let's concentrate on getting them back first."

EDI cut in. "Commander, Liara would like to see you in her cabin." Shepard nodded to the engineers before heading to the elevator.

00000000

"Shep." A voice whispered in her ear. Shepard jumped. A familiar laugh erupted next to her.

"Kasumi?" Shepard asked, backed into the corner. The familiar hooded thief uncloaked next to her, bent over laughing. "Kasumi!" Shepard quickly grabbed her in a strong hug.

"It's good to see you too, Shep." Kasumi held her tightly.

"What are you doing here Kasumi? Someone might see you!" Shepard looked around for Alliance personnel. Shepard had pardoned Kasumi already, but another Spectre kept reinstating her arrest warrant...with a large bounty.

"I had to bring you your birthday present!" Kasumi flashed her a big smile.

"But my birthday is months away."

"So this time it's early." Kasumi shrugged.

"Birthday present..." Shepard trailed off and her eyes got big.

"She's already in your cabin, Shep." Shepard's jaw dropped. Kasumi narrowed her eyes at her. "Didn't Liara tell you?"

"Umm..." Shepard couldn't form a real word.

"She is a devious one... Liara found a Cerberus base to infiltrate, on Sanctum, in Sigurd's Cradle. Once you help take the facility, Miranda will use the Cerberus network to find her sister. Liara was going to convince Hackett to send you on the mission for some Reaper artifact." Shepard knew about the mission, and the purpose of the mission, but Liara failed to mention Miranda would be joining them for the assault.

"Kasumi, you are awesome..." Shepard paused. "Any chance you would come with us?"

"Sorry Shep. You already wrangled me into one suicide mission. You know it's not my style."

"You could assist in less direct ways...you wouldn't have to be on the ship."

"We'll see." Kasumi said as the elevator stopped. "Now get in there and say hi to the ball and chain." She adjusted Shepard's collar, then turned her around and swatted her butt. Shepard turned to give her a look, but Kasumi was unseen. Faint laughter followed the elevator back down.

"Joker. Sanctum. Now."

"You got it, Commander." Came the response.

Shepard walked into her cabin to the sound of water running.

"Angel?" She called out, walking towards the shower.

"You have no idea how good this feels. I haven't had a decent shower in a week." Miranda said with her back to her. Rivulets of water were running down her back and over her hips. Shepard couldn't help but stand and admire her exquisite backside. She watched her scrub one arm, then the other.

"Sam...are you going to join me, or just stare?" Miranda said before turning around to face her with a smile. Samantha couldn't resist and lunged forward to wrap her arms around her.

"Miranda...I've missed you so much." She nuzzled herself into her neck, kissing from there to her lips in a quick line. Miranda laughed with pleasure.

"Oh Sam." She undid the fastenings holding on Sam's shirt. "Let's get you out of these clothes." Samantha helped her and they were soon skin to skin. The undeniable attraction remained, and they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Shepard circled the shorter woman's breasts as Miranda pulled Shepard's thigh between her legs. Pleasure ran through her body as she rubbed herself against Shepard's muscular thigh. Shepard helped by grabbing Miranda from behind and pulling her against her. In moments it became too intense and Miranda lost her balance. Sam caught her before she fell to the floor.

"Let's finish showering, then retire to the bed." Samantha told her with a smile.

"That would be best." Miranda kissed her before quickly scrubbing her clean.

With a few stray bubbles still present they rushed to bed. Miranda pulled Sam to her for another kiss before pushing her onto the bed.

"You have no idea what you've done to me, do you?" She straddled Sam's legs, bending to kiss each breast. They hardened appreciatively.

"What have I done to you?" Sam asked, her breathing already starting to quicken. Miranda looked into her eyes as she licked circles around her nipples. She pulled up briefly to continue talking.

"I actually need sex now. I didn't need sex before you, but now I do. What did you do to me?" She teasingly blew on a breast. Sam shuddered. Miranda smiled and spread Sam's legs, kissing her way down her abdomen.

"I don't know, but you did the same to m..." Samantha's ability to talk faltered as Miranda reached her clit. Sam's back arched involuntarily.

"Relax Sam, It's my turn to take care of you." Miranda licked Sam's already moist lips, sliding a finger in. She reached up to stroke a breast and swirled her tongue around her clit.

"Oh, Angel." Sam said between breaths. "I... Need... you."

"Me too, Sam. I swear, once Oriana is safe, I will never leave your side." Sam didn't respond. Miranda returned her mouth to her clit and added a second finger between her lips, slowly sliding her fingers in and out. Sam, splayed completely open, felt her heartbeats speed up to match the height of her ecstasy. She grabbed Miranda's hand and held it tightly.

Sam started to twitch as her orgasm started. As it wracked her body Miranda flicked her tongue over Sam's clit. Liquid spilled over Miranda's hand as she continued to slide it in and out of Sam, riding her waves of pleasure with a smile on her face. As Sam's orgasm subsided she pulled Miranda over her and tasted herself on her lips. She pulled Miranda into an intense hug.

"I love you, Angel."

"I love you too, Sam." Sam's spirit soared as she rolled Miranda to her back. It was the first time Miranda ever told her out loud. She looked deep into her eyes and saw the turmoil within. She dropped back to earth and concentrated on her angel. She didn't have to think long about what bothered her love.

"We'll get your sister back, I promise."

"I know Sam, but I can't help but worry about what my bastard father is doing to her." Sam rolled to her side and traced lines around Miranda's breasts.

"Do you have a safe house set up?"

"Liara set something up on Thessia. Oriana's parents are already there."

"Good." Thoughts of Liara made Sam frown.

"What is it?" Miranda asked.

"Umm...Liara joined me in bed last night." Sam looked away.

"I told her to." Samantha looked at her with a shocked expression. "Sam, you need your rest. Keep your hands to yourself and it doesn't bother me in the least."

"I don't deserve you." Sam kissed her and dropped her head to her shoulder. She wondered at her luck. Miranda was the best thing that ever happened to her. Her hand drifted down to lightly stroke Miranda's pussy, just barely caressing her folds. Miranda twitched from the touch. It had been a long time since her last intimate contact. Sam looked over to the clock by the bed. "We've got a little more time before we reach Sanctum." She started to rub Miranda slowly.

00000000

The attack on Sanctum needed to be quick. No transmissions could be made or the Cerberus network would be closed off. The base had a landing bay with several labs and living areas branching off. They were located on multiple levels with stairs between them. Security was extensive, located on site and in a nearby security outpost. Shepard was going to attack the facility itself with Miranda and EDI, while Garrus would lead Liara and James through the security outpost.

Miranda gave them all a quick overview of the Cerberus phantoms, though she doubted any would be on site. They were Kai Leng's personal elites, and she didn't think they would be at a secret lab facility. Just in case, Miranda opted not to use her standard white and black suit, opting for the black armor Shepard bought her before the attack on the collector base. If there were Miranda clones running about, she wanted to stand out somehow.

Miranda was still in shock about EDI and her new mobile platform. She remember phantom project, but the android was new. Miranda found herself studying the robot's movements as their shuttle approached Sanctum.

Sam nudged her elbow. "You interested in robot babes now?"

Miranda looked at her with surprise. "Oh no. Joker is welcome to her. I was just thinking. The android project must have been very secret or very recent. I didn't hear a thing about it before I left Cerberus."

"It does make you wonder how many secrets Tim keeps just to himself. How paranoid do you have to be to keep even large projects secret from your top operatives?" Shepard sighed. "What a miserable existence."

Miranda looked down at her hands. She considered her life before the Lazarus project. How many things did she keep just to herself? She looked up to The Illusive Man and his life. _ I guess it wasn't his life, but his power I idolized. But what good did it do him? Even with all that power and wealth he was missing any human connection. He didn't care about anyone as anything but a resource...and no one cared about him. _ Sam put an arm around her.

"You alright?" Samantha asked. Miranda looked into her face and smiled.

"Yes, I was just thinking about how close I came to emulating him and his life."

"Now Ms. Lawson. There's no need for that kind of depressing talk." Shepard told her in some kind of accent. Miranda leaned against her.

"LZ for security outpost in thirty seconds." Cortez announced. Garrus and his team checked their weapons one last time.

"Good luck Garrus." Shepard told him.

"Luck's got nothing to do with it." Garrus told her back with a grin. He threw open the door and waited as the platform rose up to meet him. He lined up his Mantis on the one trooper waiting on the platform. One quick shot and he fell off the edge as Garrus' team leapt from the shuttle.

"Damnit." Shepard said. The falling trooper was sure to alert someone on the main platform below them. She glanced at Miranda. "Ready EDI?"

"I am ready, Commander." EDI rose and took a textbook pose, pistol at the ready. Miranda couldn't help but smirk.

"Alright. Overload the shields on my targets, and watch my back." Shepard told them both. Miranda nodded.

"Affirmative, Commander." EDI responded.

Shepard leapt from the shuttle, rolling as she hit the ground. She moved behind a crate as a Cerberus trooper let out a yell. Miranda jumped out over the trooper, slowing her fall slightly with her biotics, something she'd been practicing for a couple months. He didn't see her above him. She clubbed him with her gun as she reached the ground.

"Let's go!" Shepard said. "They know we're here now!" She jumped out of hiding and ran to a hallway to the right. A centurion cloud appeared, which Shepard ran through. Miranda followed. Shepard called for an overload while she was still in the cloud.

"Shit." She muttered under her breath. She emerged from the cloud to see a centurion a few feet from her, facing away. He was firing at Shepard, who was throwing a shockwave at an engineer and turret. Miranda overloaded the centurion then smashed the back of his neck with her pistol. She fired a few shots at him as he went down just for good measure. Shepard hit the engineer in the face before running down some stairs towards a lab. Miranda kicked the engineer as she passed by.

"Keeping up EDI?" Shepard asked.

"I am maintaining proximity, Commander." EDI said from not too far behind Miranda.

The lab had several troopers and another centurion. Shepard threw a shockwave at the troopers. Miranda noticed the centurion working at a terminal. She overloaded him and started shooting. Shepard hit him with a warp soon after. Miranda turned to see EDI shoot the troopers with her SMG. Turning back she caught a glimpse of Shepard's foot disappearing up the next flight of stairs. She hurried after her.

00000000

Garrus lined up his shot on the trooper. "Go." He told James and Liara. As planned they focused on the centurion standing next to the trooper, who predictably turned in alarm. Garrus' Mantis bucked in his hands and the trooper's head was gone. He looked over his scope to see the centurion floating in air, James and Liara's shots perforating his armor.

"Next!" James said as the centurion crumpled lifelessly to the ground. Garrus smiled. James was getting better. He wasn't quite the force of nature that Shepard was, but he could hold his own. James led their little group to the next room. He had the best armor, so Liara was happy to let him go first, and Garrus preferred sniping from afar. Garrus picked his best vantage and peered through the scope at the last room.

"Engineer, turret out; centurion; two troopers. Liara, troopers. James, engineer and turret."

"Got it." James responded. Liara started the party with a singularity between the two troopers. James started his barrage on the turret as Garrus overloaded the centurion's shield. Before Garrus could take down the centurion, he noticed the engineer working on a terminal. There wasn't time to kill him, so Garrus lined up his Mantis on the input device and the engineer found himself typing on nothing. He looked back and forth in a shower of sparks. A centurion cloud erupted soon after.

Hearing a yell Garrus looked over the top of his scope. James was running into the cloud at full speed. "We better follow him." Garrus said, getting up from his position.

"Yes." Liara said, switching to her SMG. They shifted through the cloud at a rather more reasonable pace, and found James smashing the life out of the combat engineer. No one else was left alive.

"Good job, James." Garrus told the hulk of a man. "EDI? We're clear here. Any signals make it out of this place?"

"Negative, Garrus. No signals yet. The Commander, Ms. Lawson, and I still have another platform to clear." EDI responded.

"Ah yes, I forgot you were with us on this mission, EDI." Garrus looked for more live terminals within the security area.

"I will inform you when the area is under our control."

"Good. Watch the Commander's back." Garrus said.

"Of course. Though Ms. Lawson seems better at that than I." EDI told him.

Garrus turned and stared at Liara in silence. Eventually he found his voice. "Is that a...joke, EDI?"

"Yes, Garrus. Though organics don't seem to laugh as readily to my jokes as most. Joker tells me it is a problem with my delivery."

Liara looked at Garrus in wonder, a smile growing on her face. Garrus couldn't suppress a chuckle. "It's very good EDI, just unexpected. Proceed."

"Thank you, Garrus." EDI signed off.

00000000

"Fuck." Shepard said, hiding around a corner. The last room in the facility housed a wall of access terminals, most of which were occupied by a trooper or engineer. A short flight of stairs was between Shepard and the room. A centurion and engineer were holding guard positions at the top of the stairs.

"We can't let them send a message, Shepard." Miranda said, concern in her voice.

"I know, I know." Shepard took another glance around the corner, pulling back just in time to avoid the barrage of bullets that followed. "Ok, be ready." She waited until the Cerberus troops stopped to reload before quickly running up the stairs. She knocked the engineer over before dropping to her knees and sliding into the far corner on the slick floor. The Cerberus troops took a moment to refocus on her.

"Shepard!? What...?" Miranda shouted rising from her position to overload the centurion. Then it became clear as Shepard threw a shockwave straight down the wall of monitors. The resulting explosion of electronics threw everyone away from the wall. EDI and Miranda focussed on the two guards while Shepard sprayed SMG fire on the fallen troops.

"The commander has a most unusual fighting style, but it does appear effective." EDI said once the last Cerberus troop fell.

"And she has the scars to prove it." Miranda told her, shaking her head.

"Status, Garrus?" Shepard asked through her omni-tool.

"We're good here, Shepard. Be down there in a minute." Garrus answered.

"Any messages make it out?" Shepard asked EDI.

"Nothing, Commander. We need to alter the video surveillance footage for the last half hour, as well as create a false video loop for the future."

"Good, EDI. Get started on that, there should be enough historical footage to build up a convincing loop." EDI stopped moving, obviously accessing the network wirelessly. Shepard watched Miranda walk back to one of the other rooms to find a functioning terminal. She followed and gave her a quick kiss before heading to the landing pad.

"How are we doing, Shepard?" Garrus asked as he dropped from the shuttle.

"Good so far. EDI is manipulating the surveillance footage and Miranda is starting her search. Grab the reaper artifacts and head to the shuttle. Have James dispose of the bodies." She clapped him on the back before returning to Miranda.

"It is as I suspected, Shepard." Miranda told her as she entered the room. "No information on Oriana at all. They obviously raised her security status."

"There has to be something. Can EDI help you with access?" Shepard wrapped her arms around Miranda from behind, looking over her shoulder.

"The status increase would probably raise warning flags. I'm going to have to find another way."

"How long will it take? Wrex and the turian Primarch have each given me special missions, and I'm betting curing the genophage will follow."

"You're going to have to leave me here." Miranda said showing obvious disappointment. Shepard was quiet for a few moments.

"I'm not comfortable with you here alone, Miranda."

"I should be safe for a week or so. I'll falsify lab test results about the Reaper artifacts." Shepard had completely forgotten about the Reaper artifacts.

"I wish I could stay with you."

"As do I, Samantha." Miranda leaned her head into Shepard's. "But I need a lot more time to find my sister, and you have fleets to rally. As I promised you, once Oriana is safe, I will never leave your side." Garrus entered the room but quickly exited.

"Ok. Find your sister, but be careful." Shepard kissed her neck before releasing Miranda. Miranda got up and wrapped her arms around Sam, kissing her intently.

"I will, Sam." Miranda pulled Shepard down and buried her face in her hair. She said quietly. "I love you. Have Liara visit before you leave."

Sam kissed her again before releasing her. "I love you too, Miranda." And she left Miranda once more. _Please don't let it be the last time._

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"Liara, thanks for all your help with Oriana and her parents." Miranda told Liara.

"I am only sorry Cerberus found your sister, Miranda. I assure you I'm conducting a full investigation into the breach of security. Also, I will be happy to assist in the rescue once Oriana is found." Liara responded. Miranda was shocked that Liara considered the loss of her sister her fault. Miranda was so used to Cerberus' influence and power she didn't even consider the implication. She immediately set about allaying Liara's fear.

"It might not have been anyone in your organization, it's just as likely a random sighting revealed her location. Please do not feel guilty for her abduction."

"Thank you, Miranda." Liara said.

Miranda checked to make sure they were alone. "And thanks for helping Shepard sleep." Something passed over Liara's face, but she couldn't decipher it. "We are leaning on you a lot. I hope we aren't becoming burdensome."

"It would take quite a bit for anything Shepard wanted to become a burden, Miranda. She saved my life more than once during the years, not to mention I'm in her eternal debt for her assistance with the Shadow Broker." Liara told her. "It's the least I can do to help with your sister, and helping Shepard sleep...is not unpleasant." Miranda considered saying something about Liara's inference, but decided to drop it. She wanted what was best for Sam, any lingering jealousy be damned.

"We owe you, Liara."

"Think not of it. Goddess be with you, Miranda." Liara returned to the waiting shuttle.


	4. Chapter 4

Samantha's Angel versus the Demon

Chapter 4

Bioware owns the rights to all characters other than Samantha.

Oriana Lawson looked around her prison. It was very nice, as prisons go, but still very much a prison. The finest furniture draped in the most exquisite fabrics were strewn about the room, but she knew were she to attempt to leave they would most certainly stop her. The window, surrounded by shimmering sheer drapes, would not open, and was definitely unbreakable. The closet was filled with designer fashion that would look and feel wonderful. The huge bed was covered in the softest linens, but the thought of undressing to slide between the sheets was marred by the camera mounted in the corner of the room. She turned and glared at it, hoping her 'father' was watching.

Half an hour ago she woke, groggy and hazy. Moments later Henry Lawson entered. He immediately got on her bad side.

"Oriana, it is nice to see you again. I'm your father, Henry Lawson." He said. Oriana didn't feel much warmth from him. He was wearing a stuffy suit and stood a little too straight. His smile was obviously forced.

"Take me back to my real father." Oriana demanded.

"I am your real father, Oriana." He told her, an aristocratic tone seeping into his voice.

"DNA does not a father make. I want to go back to the man who raised me." Henry grimaced, standing even straighter, presumably to show authority.

"Your tutors will analyze the dismal state of your education tomorrow. I will assess your inadequacies and assign remedial instructors as needed." Oriana sat in stunned silence. _Could this really be my father?_ Oriana pondered for a moment. Assuming her silence showed acceptance, Henry turned to leave.

"I can see why Miranda took me away." Oriana said to his back. He stiffened.

"You will see the truth soon enough." He said.

Oriana laughed at the resolve in his tone. "I'm sure." He grimaced at her mirth. "You do realize Miranda will be coming for me?"

Without turning he said. "I hope so, then I will be able to correct that mistake." He left, the door sealing behind him with an audible click. _So you will be ready for her...will you be ready for her and Samantha?_

Oriana considered her options. There would be tutors coming, people she could try to influence. She would have to get one of them to her side. Oriana stood and walked to the armoire. She picked up the shoe with the most heft and held it in her hand. She glanced at the camera in the corner. _Not nearly heavy enough_. She returned the shoe to its place.

Her stomach still hurt from where the phantom hit her, what seemed like ages ago on Illium. She walked to the corner and sat in an arm chair. Arms crossed, she stared at the door.

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"Damn bugs. I told the queen to stay hidden." Shepard said.

"There's evidence of Reaper tech here, Shepard. The Reapers might have indoctrinated the rachni queen." Liara told her. They were crouching behind a rock while a ravager blasted the other side.

Wrex convinced Shepard to investigate a missing band of krogan scouts on a miserable rock in some backwater system. She was regretting the decision to help the old krogan. The cave was full of rocks, water, stalactites, stalagmites, and shitloads of rachni. On the plus side, Grunt was here. He was not actually with them due to an unforeseen cave in, but he was trying to reach them.

Peeking over the rock she saw several smaller bugs crawling towards them. "Garrus - Ravager. I'll get the little guys." She threw a shockwave towards the smaller creatures before turning to check on Liara. She was firing upon several husks.

"They've got husks here too. Definite Reaper involvement." Shepard said, running towards Liara and pulling out her pistol. One grabbed Liara from behind. Shepard ripped it off her and threw it to the ground, smashing its head with her heel. She pointed Liara towards some cover and started firing. The husks disintegrated under her assault.

"Another ravager, Shepard." Garrus said. Shepard ducked behind the rock with Liara.

"Are you alright?" She asked Liara, listening to Garrus' sniper shots from behind her.

Liara did not answer. Shepard could tell something was wrong. Something about the way she crouched. Shepard shot a quick warp at the ravager before looking into Liara's face, giving her an apologetic look. The ravager blasted the rock next to her head. Shepard growled. Another group of husks and bugs started towards them. Shepard growled deeper.

The husk group clustered a bit to pass around a stalagmite. Shepard threw a shockwave through them, then shot the remaining creatures with her pistol. She glanced over at the ravager to see it crumpled on the floor. She quickly turned back to Liara.

"Show me." She told her. Liara looked down, then turned to show her other side. A deep wound extended from her hip to her knee. Shepard immediately dropped and applied medi gel, trying not to touch the gash with her hand.

"That husk got me." Liara told her. Shepard applied another medi gel. Garrus walked over to them. The skin started to knit back together.

"There." Shepard said standing back up. Liara's newly healed blue leg shown through her split armor. "Keep that leg towards me at all times. I'll keep an eye on you." Garrus took up position on Liara's other side.

The cavern continued with more bugs, ravagers, and husks. Liara couldn't help but think that James would have been a better choice for this mission. Not that they had any information about what to expect for this mission, but someone with military training would be more useful than an archeologist with some biotic skill. Shepard and Garrus were constantly checking on her, and she was afraid they were going to come to harm.

"I think James or EDI might be better suited for this." She said.

"I thought archeologists liked digging in the dirt." Shepard said, looking at some Reaper cables that were running across the ground.

"Digging, yes. Shooting at husks and bugs while trying to dig isn't nearly as fun." Liara said, looking over some black webbing covering a side passage.

"No excitement about almost extinct races, Liara?" Garrus added.

"Rachni aren't really my forte, Garrus." Liara told him, waiting on Shepard.

"How's the leg?" Shepard asked.

"It's fine. Nothing's touched me since you two started guarding me like hawks." Liara said, exasperation in her voice.

Shepard looked at her face, concern showing. "What's wrong, Liara?"

"Nothing...nothing." Liara said.

"Tell me." Shepard said, using the voice again. Caring, concern, and just enough authority reverberated through Shepard when she used the voice, and Liara could not deny her.

"I'm feeling a bit useless on this mission Shepard, and the way you two are looking out for me makes me feel like a liability." Liara looked at the ground.

"Liara, first off, you are doing fine. Keep it up and we'll get out of here. Second, we didn't know anything about what we would find down here, so I wanted your devastating singularity on my side. Third, I don't trust James or EDI as much as I do you." Shepard looked into her face. "It's only because we care about you that we're watching you so closely. Ok?"

Again Liara was reminded why Shepard commanded the loyalty she did, and why so many loved her so deeply. She may not be Shepard's lover, but she would love her just the same. "Of course." Shepard hugged her briefly. Liara felt ashamed at her self depreciation. She knew what she was doing, and she was going to do her best to help.

Garrus continued exploring during their talk. "You should look at this, Shepard." Garrus called from around the corner. Shepard nodded once more at Liara and turned to follow Garrus.

Liara hurried after them to find a huge black barrier blocking the passage. Shepard was tapping it with her pistol. "Looks pretty solid. I'd say Reaper tech." She said. Liara had an idea.

"There should be a trigger somewhere." She said before scouring the area for anything that looked like a switch. "There!" She pointed towards the roof, far above them. A Reaper mechanism of some kind was installed into the roof of the cave. A single light was surrounded by black fins.

"Garrus." Shepard pointed to his Mantis.

"Piece of cake, as you humans say." He sighted up and the light went out with a crash, followed by metal grinding against stone. The huge barriers slid into the earth, revealing more barriers beyond an open area.

"Look for another switch." Shepard said. They started searching but quickly had to duck for cover. A pair of ravagers started blasting away at them. Liara crouched behind a rock, throwing her singularities as often as she could manage. Garrus quickly took up the fight with the ravagers as Shepard handled the smaller bugs and the husks that appeared. Liara created a singularity between the two ravagers which Shepard warped. The two ravagers splattered against the cavern wall.

Shepard checked on Liara before continuing the search. She found the second switch around the corner on the floor. This time they prepared themselves for attack before blowing the switch. Once ready Shepard crouched behind a rock and fired her pistol at the switch.

Three more ravagers were behind the newly removed barriers. Liara placed another singularity between them before pulling out her SMG to wear down their armor. Shepard bumped up against her while she was firing. Liara turned to see several husks surrounding Shepard.

"Wha?.." Liara involuntarily backed away, tripping over a rock and falling to the ground. Shepard smacked the nearest husk, knocking it to the side. The next one was on her instantly. "Shepard!" The husks were coming from behind them. Liara pulled herself off the ground.

Liara felt ravager fire and forced herself behind cover, still transfixed. She couldn't place a singularity so close to Shepard, and she didn't trust herself to shoot so closely either. Shepard was getting hit by one of the ravagers so Liara threw a quick singularity over the rock.

When Liara looked back to Shepard she was smashing a husk's head into the floor. Another husk jumped on her back, clawing everywhere to find a way through her armor. Several more were approaching. Liara could tell Shepard's shield was gone. She had to do something. In desperation she placed a singularity at the far side of the group, hoping Shepard wasn't close enough to be effected. The husks were lifted from the ground.

"Augh!" Shepard shouted, heaving a husk over her head. She threw it into the group around Liara's singularity, following it with a warp. The limp husks were blasted against the walls. Liara looked back over the rock to see two ravagers left. She helped Garrus kill them slowly but surely.

Afterwards she looked over to Shepard, registering crimson in several locations on her armor. "Shepard! Where are you hurt?"

"Everywhere. We're out of medi gel. Keep going." Shepard rose to her feet slowly, obvious pain showing on her face.

The switch was nearby and they all took cover as Garrus shot it. Fortunately it was the last barrier, and there didn't seem to be any ravagers or husks behind it. They did see a curious sight, though.

"Goddess, it's the rachni queen." Liara said, staring up at the huge insectoid.

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Shepard, still hobbled and bleeding, made the decision to release the queen for a second time. The queen told them she was not indoctrinated, but you couldn't really be sure. Liara was nervous about the decision.

Soon after they found themselves running out of the caves. The queen was escaping, but she had no control over already hatched rachni. The Reaper controlled rachni were not at all pleased about the queen's release, and were coming out of the walls to attack them. Grunt managed to find them through a side passage, and was now leading them back to the surface. Garrus had an arm around Shepard, and was helping her walk. Liara was bringing up the rear. She was not comfortable in a rear guard position, but she wasn't strong enough to carry Shepard. A huge number of ravagers and husks were chasing them through the tunnels. She took another shot at the closest ravager before throwing a singularity. As the ravager floated helplessly she turned...and ran into Garrus. Shepard made a pained noise at the impact.

"What's going on? We need to move!" She told Garrus, who held a finger to his mouth. She looked ahead. Four ravagers were patrolling the cave exit. They had a drop off to one side and a cavern wall to the other. The team was unseen so far due to a group of stalagmites clustered in front of them. She looked at Shepard, hanging off Garrus' arm. Blood was flowing freely from under her armor on one side.

"Grunt, it would be best if we weren't caught between two groups of ravagers." Garrus said.

"Go." Grunt said, stepping around the cave formations. Garrus didn't move. "Go!" He yelled at them, then ran straight at the ravagers, shooting his massive shotgun as fast as he could fire it. The ravager in front was reduced to mush. Grunt slammed his gun into the second, splattering one of its sacs and knocking it over. Garrus started to drag Shepard towards the exit as Grunt grabbed the last two ravagers and dragged them over the drop off.

"Grunt!" Shepard yelled, stopping Garrus briefly.

"We need to move." Liara told them. Several other ravagers were approaching from behind. Garrus and Shepard moved as fast as they could towards the entrance. The ravager Grunt knocked over got back to his feet. Garrus shot it with his Mantis one handed. Liara created another singularity behind them, shooting her pistol when she could.

They emerged from the caverns to find the shuttle waiting. Garrus dragged Shepard part way before they heard a rock crumbling behind them. They turned to see a blood covered krogan drag themselves up from a cavern below.

"Grunt!" Shepard exclaimed. Garrus ran to help Grunt as Liara took over with Shepard. Grunt collapsed before Garrus reached him. Garrus picked him up. Liara and Garrus helped their hobbled charges onto the shuttle.

"Tuchanka, Joker." Shepard said when they reached the Normandy.

"You got it, Commander."

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"Samantha! How could you let yourself get hurt like this?" Chakwas exclaimed, as they removed the last bit of her armor. It appeared the husks had ripped Shepard's skin at every seam in her armor, leaving a macabre puzzle pattern over her whole body. "Miranda is not going to be pleased." She waved Liara towards the windows of the med bay. Liara shut the blinds.

"I know, Doc." Liara tried to help Shepard peel off the shreds of her clothing while trying to look anywhere but her body. It was difficult. "Liara, you've seen inside my head. I'm not worried about you seeing me without clothes."

"You thought different very recently." Liara continued to look away.

"That was an...umm... intimate situation, and I wasn't bleeding at the time." Shepard said, looking uncomfortable. She held her hands away from herself to allow Chakwas access. As she looked down at herself Chakwas applied medi gel to a deep gash on her right side, then applied some to a long slice on the inside of her left arm. "A few more scars to add to my tally."

"Not to worry, Commander, they're starting to merge together. You'll barely notice these." Chakwas started to clean the numerous cuts and scrapes. Shepard was obviously in a lot of pain.

"Thanks for noticing, Doc." Shepard said with a frown.

"That was a joke Commander. These cuts should heal with relatively little scarring." Liara tried to assist, but couldn't do much more than offer encouraging looks at this point. The entire cleaning process took several minutes.

"Can someone send a message to Miranda? She'll want to know I'm ok."

"I'll take care of it." Liara left to send the message. Chakwas sterilized the bed before lowering Shepard gently onto it. Shepard hissed as Chakwas sprayed her down with an antibiotic mist. She decided to save time by draping Shepard in one huge bandage.

"Most of these aren't deep. You should be well enough to fight in two days."

"You're the best, Doc." Shepard stared at the ceiling. Chakwas injected her with something. Shepard looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"This will help with the pain, and let you rest." Shepard nodded, then returned to staring at the ceiling.

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Liara returned to the medical center to find Shepard resting peacefully. Chakwas already had a lounge chair set up next to Shepard's bed.

"Is she asleep?" Liara asked.

Dr. Chakwas glanced at the sleep monitor. "Yes."

Liara settled into the chair. "I'm not sure how much longer I can do this." She said, looking downcast.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Chakwas asked with concern.

"It's becoming personal for me." Liara said, taking Shepard's hand into her own.

"I see." Chakwas said.

"She shut everyone out after Ashley died. Being with her while she slept wasn't a problem when no one was receiving more emotional...connection. Now that Miranda has her heart, I know I'm just a stand in. I can feel coolness between us." Liara paused, looking over Shepard's sleeping form. "I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't disappeared to chase down the Shadow Broker."

"Liara, you are a very good friend to Shepard. She may not love you in the same way she does Miranda, but she does love you. I know she appreciates what you do."

"I know." Liara said. "But it's becoming too much. To have her so close, and yet be unable to take it further is...torture."

"I'm sorry, Dr. T'soni. I will look for a replacement. Please hold out for a little while longer, for her sake." Chakwas told her.

"Thank you." She pulled Shepard's hand and brushed it across her lips. "I will miss this, but I need all of her...or nothing."

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Miranda was furious with herself. She was stuck in this creepy Cerberus lab searching data for evidence about her sister, and Samantha got hurt. It was all her fault. If she'd been there instead of Liara she could've kept Sam safe.

Miranda paced in front of the terminal, fuming. She could be mad at Liara for letting Samantha get hurt, but it wasn't her fault. Liara isn't trained for combat operations. She could be mad at Sam for putting herself in danger, but it wasn't her fault either. Sacrificing herself for others was what she did. It's what she was.

All she had to do was find her sister, then call Sam to make the rescue. Retrieving her sister would be easy with the combined might of the Normandy and Samantha. She wished she could be there to help Sam heal. Just holding her hand…watching her sleep.

She lost her fury as her thoughts drifted to Sam. Sam would not want her beating herself up about this. She had to refocus her efforts. Liara assured her the wounds were minor. She sat back down at the terminal.

Up to this point she was searching for whispers about her sister or her father. _What would Henry do with Oriana? He wouldn't even conceive of losing to the Reapers. He'll assume we'll beat them...or subjugate them. He'll do what he did to me...start an advanced tutoring regimen. I need to search for tutors being transferred._

Miranda accessed the Cerberus network once again, this time with new search criteria.

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The Illusive Man took a drag on his cigarette. Kai Leng stood patiently behind him.

"You haven't found her yet." The Illusive Man said.

"No. We've investigated all bases class two and above." Kai Leng told him.

"Which are unlikely targets." The Illusive Man scoffed.

"Yes...we have begun our search of the smaller bases..." Kai Leng added.

"Which might take a year to cover."

"We have narrowed our search down using algorithms..."

"Have you leaked Oriana's location yet?"

"Henry Lawson strictly forbid us from that course of action, and Miranda has the full backing of Shepard and the Normandy. We must try to catch her off guard, without Shepard." Kai Leng told him.

"Seems like you've lost faith in your phantoms."

"All scenarios show a loss of at least three phantoms. Scenarios with Shepard and Miranda apart show a loss of only one."

"I care little for your phantoms, but I see your point. Continue with your plan." The Illusive Man told him.

"Sir." Kai Leng said.

"Here's your next assignment." He handed him a data pad.

"The Citadel, Sir? I'll have to pull troops off the search for Miranda." Kai Leng was astonished.

"You'll have a Capitol class ship, a legion of troops, and several of the new nemesis troops. Pull all the phantoms you can spare, especially the Miranda copies. Shepard will show up, they will have an advantage against her. Keep your personal squad on locating Miranda. You have two weeks." The Illusive Man waved him away.

"You want me to attack the Citadel without my squad?" Kai Leng was shocked.

"You need your squad to babysit you?" Kai Leng glared at him, but the Illusive Man was already going over another data pad. Kai Leng turned and walked out.

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Shepard found herself once again shooting at bugs. She was annoyed that the Reapers still had access to ravagers even though she released the queen. She thought about the convoluted path that led her to this point. First, Wrex sent her to some miserable planet to find some krogan scouts, where she discovered the rachni queen she released years ago. She also found Grunt, and was viciously scratched enough to end up in the med bay.

Once healed enough, the turian Primarch asked her to assist a turian patrol that was on a classified mission on Tuchanka...which turned out to be his own son's patrol. The squad was trying to disarm a huge, ancient bomb the turians installed on the krogan home world as a fail-safe during the krogan rebellions. It turned out that in addition to the Reapers present everywhere on Tuchanka, Cerberus was present. They wanted to set off the bomb for some insane anti-Alliance reason. After some intense fighting Shepard kicked Cerberus off the planet, losing the Primarch's son in the process. The Primarch's son became a hero by disabling the bomb as he died, but Shepard knew the Primarch wouldn't be happy.

Once that task was complete, Wrex laid down the law. They had to cure the genophage. Shepard expected it, but had no idea how to accomplish the feat. Through some leaked information Wrex had, they discovered the salarians had several cured krogan females at an STG laboratory. Their DNA might be used to cure the genophage.

One more intense shoot out with Cerberus at the STG lab(they obviously found out about the females from some leak), and they recovered one live cured female krogan; and a salarian scientist willing to accompany them to cure the genophage. It was Mordin, fully convinced the cure was the right thing to do. Shepard was pleased at his change of heart since the Collector missions.

Mordin named the krogan female Eve. Eve impressed Shepard immediately by standing up to Wrex, and by taking out a couple Cerberus centurions by herself.

Once back on the Normandy and headed towards Tuchanka, the salarian Dalatros sent a private communique. The shroud, an ancient air processing facility they intended to use to distribute the cure, had been intentionally broken long ago, just to keep it from being used for a cure. The Dalatros was worried that Mordin, the clever salarian that he was, would see the problem and correct it. She wanted Shepard to make sure that didn't happen. Shepard would have the full support of the salarians as long as she made sure the krogans didn't get their cure. Shepard thought her suggestion was despicable, and cut the connection without a response. She left the communication center with a frown.

Shepard didn't hold the information long. As soon as she entered the transport with Wrex, Eve, and Mordin, she told them about the Dalatros' request. Wrex immediately demanded war, but Eve calmed him down. Shepard reminded him that the salarians were going to feel pretty lonely if they were the only species that didn't help fight the Reapers. Wrex grumbled, but seemed willing to follow Eve's advice. Mordin was silent. Shepard wondered if he still associated himself with the salarians. He sure wasn't following the Dalatros' orders any more.

"Garrus? I'm getting pretty sick of bugs." She said to the turian behind her.

"Me too, Shepard. Ravager on your left." He said.

"Right. James, take it out. I'll take the husks. Garrus, keep doing what you're doing."

James started to pepper the ravager with assault rifle fire while Garrus used his Mantis to the best effect. Shepard used her shockwave to toss husks left and right.

They were still trekking towards the shroud, but it wasn't easy. The road was knocked out by something, so the vehicles couldn't approach. Shepard and her team were separated from Wrex and Eve, and ended up walking through some ancient underground krogan ruins. They quickly met up with Reaper forces and hence their current battle with husks, cannibals, and ravagers. Ahead Shepard knew they still had a huge Reaper in their way. The Reaper was using the shroud to distribute poison or something. Shepard still didn't know what she was going to do about it.

A tremor ran through the ground beneath them. Shepard glanced at Garrus.

"I'd rather not be underground if there's an earthquake, Shepard."

"I'll second that!" James added.

"Let's go." Shepard started to jog towards the exit.

They took out another group of husks and saw the sky again. Just as they breached the surface they found the source of the tremors. A huge thresher maw cut through the pathway before them with the line of crests along its back.

"Wow." Shepard said.

"It's Kalros! The mother of all thresher maws!" Wrex announced through her comm link.

"Kalros?" Shepard asked.

"When they name a thresher maw, it's for a reason." Garrus added. Shepard nodded, then took a running leap across the gap Kalros made.

"Eve has an idea, Shepard." Wrex told her.

"Let's hear it." She said, ducking behind a square stone pillar as another set of ravagers and husks headed towards the team.

"There are two huge keystones near the shroud. If we activate them, Kalros should be drawn towards the Reaper." James smacked a husk off an edge as Garrus beheaded another.

"Sounds epic. What's the catch?" Shepard asked, throwing a warp at a nearby ravager.

"The hammers need to be manually activated." Eve told her. Shepard groaned. She glanced towards the Reaper.

"Those keystones wouldn't happen to be the two large structures almost directly under the Reaper, would they?" A husk grabbed her from behind. She turned to toss it off only to find James snapping its neck.

"Yes, Shepard. The turians are going to provide a distraction." Eve let her know. Shepard looked around to see the Reaper squad destroyed. She nodded to James and Garrus.

"That still involves me running around under a Reaper." Shepard said, jogging towards the looming Reaper.

"You can do it, Shepard. We'll meet you there with the salarian." Wrex assured her. Shepard shook her head and started up the stairs towards the Reaper.

"Stay behind cover!" She told her team. Just then the Reaper blasted a huge pillar near them, which toppled.

"That may not be enough, Shepard." Garrus said.

"Just got that, Garrus." Shepard gave him a smirk. "Stay behind cover, and keep moving." The team quickly rolled between pillars and ran upstairs. The Reaper blasted nearby several times a minute.

"Ouch." Garrus pulled Shepard up after the Reaper blasted the pillar right next to her. Part of the pillar almost rolled over her. She leapt out of the way, twisting her leg at a weird angle. It was killing her. She hopped behind another pillar with Garrus' help. "I think I pulled something." The Reaper was decimating the area around them.

Salvation came with the arrival of several turian fighters. They flew circles around the Reaper, which switched focus to them. Shepard watched as one was blown from the sky.

"We don't have much time." Shepard put weight on her leg, wincing at the pain. They turned towards the first keystone just as several fireballs landed before them. A pair of huge brutes emerged. "We just can't catch a break..." Shepard said. "Keep them busy...and stay alive!"

Shepard bolted towards the keystone on the right, ignoring the brutes. Her leg was screaming. A couple more flights of stairs and a Reaper leg smashed the ground in front of her. She couldn't get past. She turned and found a brute clomping towards her.

Shepard pulled out her pistol and laid into the beast, alternating shots with warps. It ran at her, smacking her against the leg of the Reaper. Her shields went down. Shepard flared out her biotics to push it back before rolling to the side. Continuing to fire her gun she hobbled down the stairs. It turned slowly, trying to follow her movements through her barrage of bullets.

The Reaper pulled its leg out and slammed it down somewhere else. Shepard saw her chance and ran straight at the brute. She flung out her biotics again and pushed the brute, which fell into the hole left by the leg of the Reaper. She backed up and, once again ignoring her leg, leapt across the gap to the keystone. She triggered the switch and backed away as the huge weight was lifted. When it was dropped she was leaping back across the gap. A huge boom accompanied its landing. She looked towards the second keystone and groaned.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She said. There were at least eight brutes between her and the other keystone. James and Garrus were at the bottom of the stairs she was descending, firing as fast as they could.

"Go Commander! We got this!" James called out, leading a brute out of her way. Garrus was similarly distracting a pair of brutes.

Shepard reached the bottom of the stairs and started a limping run across the plain. Brutes reached at her from every direction. She shifted out of their grasp and kept going. Another turian fighter crashed to ground off to her left. _There can't be that many fighters left._ A brute knocked her off her feet and she flew into a wall. She quickly pulled herself up and resumed the run to the keystone.

Before she reached the top of the stairs another leg of the Reaper crashed down, blocking her path. Shepard groaned.

She saw several brutes approaching from behind. She started climbing the rubble next to the Reaper claw, looking for a way over. Finding a path she looked over to the keystone switch. She had a four meter drop to the ground.

"This is going to hurt." She dropped to the ground and something popped in her wounded leg. Tears filled her eyes. She peered through the pain induced haze to the switch. It was just a couple meters away. She pulled herself to one leg and hopped over, keeping her other leg off the ground.

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Garrus was finishing off another brute when the second hammer hit. He looked towards the second keystone switch. There were several brutes clustered in front of a huge Reaper claw imbedded into the ground. He couldn't see the switch...or Shepard.

"James, let's go." James looked at him, then fell in behind him. They headed towards the switch, ignoring the few brutes still near them. They heard the telltale quake that proceeded Kalros. The Reaper shifted in anticipation, moving the leg near the switch. A brute jumped across the gap the reaper left, approaching the switch. Garrus watched Shepard reach from behind the switch to pepper the brute with pistol fire. He noticed she was sitting on the ground.

"Shepard's hurt, hurry up." He double timed his jog and came up behind the pack of brutes. He got into a crouch and shot the brute nearest Shepard. It collapsed. Another jumped the gap to take its place. A pair of brutes turned towards him and James.

"Keep it up." James said. "These are mine." His assault rifle bucked in his arms as he blasted the pair. Garrus continued his focussed fire on the beast nearest Shepard.

"You all right, Shepard?" He called through his link. He heard the rumbling of Kalros in the distance.

Her speech was punctuated with pistol fire. "Snapped a tendon in my leg. Can't walk very well."

"We're coming to you." Garrus put a bullet through another brute. The last took its place. "James?"

"Working on it." Garrus pulled his eye from his scope to see James leap up onto the shoulders of a brute before smashing his rifle butt into its face. He couldn't help but smile before returning his gaze to the scope. _James studies the same combat books as Shepard...or possibly doesn't study any...might be the same thing. _Earth shattering noise was building past where Shepard sat.

Within a minute Garrus was pulling Shepard to her feet. "Thanks Garrus."

"Don't mention it." She held onto him for support. They turned just as the Reaper fired its main weapon. It blasted the ground, but couldn't penetrate. Kalros breached the surface to its side before digging back into the ground. The Reaper almost lost its balance in its hurry to switch directions.

"Nice to see a Reaper off balance." James said on Shepard's other side.

"Yep." Garrus agreed.

Kalros surfaced a distance from the Reaper, in a direction it didn't expect. The Reaper again made an attempt to turn, moving its multiple limbs around each other wildly. Kalros built up speed before taking a flying leap at the Reaper. They all watched with mouths gaping, not daring to blink. Kalros hit the Reaper dead center, quickly wrapping her body around the machine. With a roar of crunching metal and earth the huge thresher maw twisted the Reaper's legs into scrap metal. Kalros used her wormlike body to grind the Reaper into the ground. A few stray Reaper blasts erupted from the newly exposed earth, but the result was obvious. The thresher maw had destroyed a Reaper.

"That's something you don't see every day." Shepard said.

"Too bad we can't lure the rest of them here." James said.

"Let's go." Shepard said. "We need to reach the shroud, Mordin is waiting." She winced, turning away. Garrus took most of her weight and guided her down the stairs.

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Shepard looked on as Mordin's fingers flew over the terminal. She leaned against Garrus for support. Structural supports were falling down around them, and there were several fires nearby. Tremors from the thresher maw and Reaper battle were still rocking the structure.

"The cure is loaded for dispersal." He said without looking up.

"Where's Eve?" She asked.

"Heading to safety. Extraction of cure traumatic, but not fatal. Her survival fortunate. Good counterpoint to Wrex. Promising future for krogan." He said using his rapid fire speech pattern. "Two minutes." A beam from above smashed into the ground to Shepard's left. Garrus dragged her into a more sheltered location.

"Is it safe?" She asked Mordin, looking up into the structure.

"Doesn't matter. Has to be done." He glanced at the console. "I need to take the elevator up."

"Up?! Up where?" Shepard asked. Several parts of the shroud tower were burning above them.

"Control room at top of facility. Manual access required to counteract STG sabotage." Mordin turned and strode to the elevator.

"But..." Shepard said looking up at the tower above them. Pieces were falling off and several fires were erupting from the shell. "Mordin, that's suicide. There has to be another way."

"No. No other option. Not coming back. Suggest you get clear. Explosions likely to be problematic."

"Mordin! No!" Shepard struggled against Garrus, who held her in a tight grip. Mordin entered the elevator and turned.

"Shepard, please. Need to do this. My project. My work. My cure. My responsibility. Had to be me." He closed his eyes. "Someone else might have gotten it wrong."

"I'll miss you, Mordin." Shepard said as the elevator closed. Garrus turned her around quickly enough to give her whiplash. After a few panicked moments and some painful crawling over rubble, they reached a vehicle. They turned to look at the tower. A pale yellow cloud emerged from the tip of the tower, spreading across the sky. For several minutes they watched pale yellow orbs of light float down from the sky, Shepard still leaning on Garrus. Shepard glanced back to the tower just in time to see an explosion erupt from the top of the tower. Shepard hung her head.

"Let's go, Garrus. Our job here is done."


	5. Chapter 5

Angel and the Demon

Chapter 5

Bioware owns the rights to all characters other than Samantha.

Shepard once more found herself on Chakwas' surgical table. Chakwas let her know she tore her anterior cruciate ligament during her adventures on Tuchanka. She would be off her feet for at least a day, probably two.

"As much as I enjoy your company, Samantha, you really shouldn't hurt yourself on every mission." Chakwas and Shepard continued their routine; the doctor complaining about the frequency of her injuries, and Shepard apologizing for the same.

"Sorry doc. There was this Reaper, and a thresher maw...you know how it goes. Speed seemed important at the time." Shepard was on her side while Chakwas worked on her knee. The painkillers were making her drowsy. "Can someone call Miranda? She's going to be worried…"

"Liara already took care of it, Commander. Now, hold still." Chakwas returned to working on her knee.

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"Lola sure ends up in med bay a lot." James said, looking in on Chakwas, who was sealing Shepard's leg with medi-gel.

"Lola?" Garrus asked, looking over at the hulk of a man.

"My name for the Commander. She looks like a Lola."

"I see. Yes, she does end up in the medical center quite often." He looked back in on the doctor. "One thing you need to remember about the Commander. She would much rather be hurt herself than any of her team end up there."

"Really?" James watched Chakwas clean Shepard's leg before covering her up with a blanket. "I suppose it isn't that surprising, but soldiers like that don't normally live long."

"Nope, they don't." Garrus agreed. "Shepard is one of a kind."

"Yes, she is."

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Chakwas was adding Shepard's injury to her file when Samantha Traynor entered the med bay.

"Specialist Traynor? We don't normally see you down here in the med bay."

"Is she doing alright?" Traynor asked, looking over to Shepard's sleeping form.

"Yes, just a little ACL re-attachment. Nothing major. She'll be back into the mix in a couple days." Chakwas told her.

Traynor walked over to Shepard and looked down at her with concern. She brushed a stray red hair from her face. Chakwas pondered for a moment, then thought it might be a good opportunity.

"You can sit and hold her hand, if you like. I'm sure she won't mind." Chakwas told her.

"Are you sure?" Traynor asked with a little more eagerness than Chakwas expected.

"Yes, just try not to move around too much." They oriented a chair next to the bed and Traynor sat down, quickly taking Shepard's hand into her own. Traynor looked almost excited. Dr. Chakwas returned to Shepard's extensive file.

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Liara looked through the medical center windows at Shepard. Dr. Chakwas finished patching her up a while ago. Now Traynor was sitting with her. A little pang of jealousy hit her, but she pushed it back down. _It's for the best._ Shepard might be confused when she woke, but she would adjust. She wished it didn't have to be this way.

_What would have happened if I'd joined Shepard when she first arrived on Illium? Would Miranda still be her choice?_ She frowned at the tears forming in her eyes. She shook her head. _Doesn't this ship have a bar somewhere?_

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James and Garrus were well into their third toast when Liara entered.

"Liara!" Garrus exclaimed. "Join us. We were just toasting the destruction of the Reaper." He got up and got another glass.

"Hey Doc. Don't see you in the lounge often, or ever." James said. Liara didn't say anything, just sat next to Garrus' seat. Garrus placed a glass in front of her and filled it up. He sat back down.

"James here jumped on the back of a huge brute. It was amazing!" Garrus clapped the big man on the back.

"And Garrus took out five of them with his Mantis!" James smiled at the turian. Liara maintained her stoic silence.

"Anything you want to talk about, Liara?" Garrus asked, turning to look at her. Liara took a sip of her drink. Her eyes watered at the sting.

"Not really Garrus." She stared at the wall behind the bar.

"Did you see the vid of the thresher maw take down the Reaper?" James asked. "It was fucking awesome!"

"I saw the vid." Liara said. Garrus looked at her closely. Liara was quiet at the best of times. Right now she was being genuinely antisocial. He elbowed James.

James turned in alarm. Garrus tipped his head in Liara's direction.

"I'm sorry, I don't feel like talking right now. And I apologize for bringing down the mood." Liara said, taking another drink from her glass. "I can leave." She started to slide out of her chair.

"No, Liara, stay. Don't worry about us." Garrus held her in her seat, patting her on the back afterwards.

"Thank you, Garrus. Don't mind me, continue with your celebration."

Garrus looked at her with concern, wondering what was affecting her so.

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Shepard woke to find herself holding Specialist Traynor's hand. She was shocked Liara wasn't with her, but realized Liara couldn't sit with her all the time.

"Morning Commander. How are you feeling?" Traynor asked with a bright smile.

"Ummm...hi, Traynor. I feel ok." Shepard pulled her hand back and pulled herself half off the bed. She flexed her leg. A twinge told her it still needed some time.

"Doc says you're supposed to stay in bed for another day, Commander." Traynor told her.

"Great." Shepard flopped back down on the bed.

"Commander? The Salarian Dalatros is on the vid comm." Joker announced.

"Great." Shepard repeated. "Fine. I'll hobble up there." She started to pick herself back up.

"Let me help, Commander." Traynor helped her off the bed, pulling Shepard's arm around her shoulder.

Thus Shepard found herself clinging to a raven haired beauty with a stimulating accent, but not the one she wanted. To distract herself from the large section of the specialist rubbing against her, Shepard thought about possible reasons for the Dalatros' communique. Other than the obvious 'you cured the genophage, the salarians will hate you forever' inevitability, she couldn't think of anything. Thankfully Traynor let her enter the communication center alone.

The Dalatros shocked Shepard, not by offering her thanks for rallying the krogans against the Reapers, or by spewing a diatribe about the genophage, but by warning her that Councilor Udina was up to something. Shepard knew Udina was a slippery politician, but didn't think he was sleazy.

"Joker, head to the Citadel." Shepard limped out of the comm center into the war room.

"Will do, Commander. We'll arrive sometime tomorrow. Kaiden and Miranda are both available on the comm."

Shepard stopped in the middle of the war room, turning around laboriously. "Thanks, Joker." She limped back into the comm center, quickly setting up the link to the Citadel.

"Commander." Kaiden said with half a smile.

"Kaiden, glad to see you're up and around." She smiled at him.

"I heard you took out a Reaper with a thresher maw." He said.

"Wasn't my idea, but I flipped the switches."

"Congratulations." Kaiden told her. He noticed she wasn't standing straight. "Looks like you got hurt in the process."

"Thanks, yes, my ACL was torn while jumping off a wall."

"That sounds like something you would do, Commander." Kaiden looked uncomfortable for a moment. "You should know I accepted Udina's offer."

"Congratulations...Spectre Alenko!" Shepard said with a warm smile. She would miss having him on the Normandy, but having another Spectre on her side would also be nice.

"Thanks Commander..." Kaiden paused to frown at his omni-tool. "Sorry Commander, gotta go. Udina needs me."

"I'll be on the Citadel tomorrow. Care to meet up?" Shepard asked, then she noticed Kaiden cut the connection. She switched the signal to Sanctum.

"Shepard, how are you?" The curvaceous form of Miranda coalesced in the vid comm. Shepard couldn't keep the smile from her face.

"I'm fine. How are you?" Shepard tried her best to stand up straight. Miranda knew better.

"You are not fine. You tore your ACL. I assumed you'd have someone helping you."

"Specialist Traynor helped me get here. She stayed out of the comm center to allow me privacy." Shepard told her.

"You dodged the legs of a reaper while summoning the largest thresher maw in existence. EDI sent me the vid. If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were deliberately trying to give me a heart attack." Shepard looked down guiltily.

"Umm...any luck with your sister?" Shepard asked.

Miranda allowed Sam to shift her attention away from herself. "Some. There are only so many Cerberus facilities that allow civilians. Of those only a few require the services of teachers and tutors. I'm trying to cut that list down further before infiltration."

"Good. I'll be ready when you need a team."

"Sam...please be careful. I don't know what I would do without you." Miranda said with unexpected softness.

"I will, Miranda. I promise."

"Love you, Sam." Miranda said.

"I love you too, Angel." Shepard cut the link and hobbled back through the war room. Specialist Traynor was waiting for her on the main deck. She insisted on helping Shepard back to the medical center.

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Miranda walked to the landing pad at Sanctum to clear her head. When speaking to Sam her emotions ran high. She needed to cool down to handle another week alone. She looked into the distance, focusing on nothing. The place was still eerie. The man made walls of the base were cold and she couldn't put herself at ease. It was strange, she never had trouble within the Illusive Man's base. Was this base somehow different? Or had she changed? _Maybe the better question is; has Shepard changed me?_

Miranda wrapped her arms around herself. During Shepard's time in military prison Miranda mostly reverted to her ice queen persona, just to deal with the unbearable longing she felt. Oriana even called her on it. All the emotions came rushing back when she met up with Samantha for the assault on Sanctum. That day on the Normandy had been heaven. Luckily during the battle they were distracted enough to keep from touching each other. The rest of the journey she couldn't keep her hands off Sam.

Two weeks later the longing was back, and she was fighting the urge to close herself off again. She was really hoping the Normandy would be in this part of galaxy soon.

A cold breeze ran through the landing bay and she shivered. She returned to the terminal, finding a message from Dr. Chakwas.

_Ms. Lawson,_

_Shepard's ACL is healing nicely. She should be back on her feet tomorrow. I once again asked her to be more careful. The Normandy wouldn't be the same without her._

_On a related note, Liara wishes to discontinue her sleeping arrangement. I have an alternative who seems willing. Specialist Samantha Traynor is with Shepard in the med bay now, and seems amenable to the arrangement. She's a lab technician who became Shepard's personal assistant after the Reapers attacked. I will discuss Samantha's needs with her, along with your restrictions._

_Good luck with your research._

_Yours truly,_

_Dr. Karin Chakwas._

Miranda frowned. Liara's reluctance was confusing, and Specialist Traynor was an unknown. Her mind was recalled Kelly Chambers, Shepard's former assistant who was openly amorous towards the Commander. Without more information she had to trust Dr. Chakwas' judgement.

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Oriana Lawson stared out the window. She knew it wasn't really the outside world, just a false image created to put her at ease. The light looked artificial, and the ambient sounds were higher pitch than normal. She suspected she was far under the ground somewhere.

The real reason she was staring out the window cleared his throat. It annoyed tutors when you ignored them.

"Young lady, you won't learn much staring out the window." Oriana rolled her eyes before turning back to the man.

"Shouldn't you be helping with the war against the Reapers?" She asked. "I'm sure someone of your intelligence could be doing something more useful than tutoring a kidnapped teenager."

"Both the Illusive Man and your father assure me the war will not last long." He told her, ignoring the kidnapping comment. Her father probably told him she was a drug user, just pining for a hallex fix. She thought his name was Roberts or something like that.

"He's not my father." She cut him off before he continued. "And if the war does end soon, it will be because of Shepard and the Alliance, not anything Cerberus does."

"Nevertheless, you need to focus on your studies. Your father will not be pleased if I report another day without progress."

"As I said, he's not my father, and I don't care if he's not pleased." She told him, returning her gaze to the window.

He made an annoyed sound with his tongue. "Very well. I will report another day without progress."

Oriana turned back and leveled a glare at him. He gave a resigned sigh and turned to leave. "Miranda Lawson and 'the' Commander Shepard are coming for me. You will live longer if you are not here when they arrive."

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"It was all going so well." Kai Leng said to himself.

The legion of Cerberus troops he brought to assault the Citadel had little trouble cutting through the pitiful C-sec guards. They took C-sec HQ within minutes of arrival. Carving through the rest of them on the way to the council had been laughable. Udina was working towards a shuttle with the asari and turian councilors, accompanied by some clueless Spectre. They were to meet him at the shuttle.

And now Shepard was here. Against all odds she just happened to show up at the Citadel right in the middle of their take-over.

"Sir! She's taken C-sec HQ!" Kai Leng grimaced. The idiot was yelling into the comm link.

"Yes, I know. Stop yelling. Hold her off as long as you can." He made a mental note to have the offender outfitted with Reaper upgrades if he survived.

"What's the situation?" The Illusive man was patched into their audio. He knew something was up.

"Shepard is here."

"Of course she is." The Illusive Man said. "Your objective does not change. Get to the Salarian Councilor before she does."

"Yes sir." Kai Leng waved his lieutenant over. "Take the squads towards the council chambers. I'll take care of the councilor with squad three." The Phantom nodded before heading to the shuttles. Kai Leng headed to the nearest maintenance access hatch.

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Shepard sent another shockwave through a group of Cerberus troops. The few that weren't slammed against the wall were cut down with pistol fire.

"Shepard, Kaiden is with most of the council. The Salarian Councilor is missing." Thane spoke to her through her comm link.

"Is Udina with Kaiden?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Can you contact him?"

"His comm signal is being jammed."

"Damnit." Shepard cursed. "Keep looking for the Councilor. I'm coming." She opened the door to the next area, continuing their movement towards the council chambers.

When they arrived at the Citadel the security force did not respond to their hails, leaving Shepard to guess something was afoot. Thane contacted them on an outside channel, letting them know Cerberus was in control of most of the Citadel, including C-sec HQ. They hopped into the shuttle and jumped out as close as they could get to it. After finding Commander Bailey wounded but alive, they retook the headquarters. From that point they cut through the Cerberus forces on their way to the council. Unfortunately, they had a long way to go.

"Shep?" A female voice cut in over her comm link a few moments later. Shepard thought she recognized it.

"Who is this?" Shepard didn't expect anyone to find a way into their comm channel.

"Kasumi. I hacked into your channel."

"Kasumi!?" Shepard exclaimed. "Are you safe?" She paused before continuing to the next room.

"I'm fine. Hanging out near Thane." She said. "I've been keeping tabs on Cerberus."

"Does Thane know you're there?" Shepard asked.

"Not exactly..." Kasumi told her, sounding embarrassed. Shepard let out an exasperated breath.

"Alright you crazy thief. Let Thane know you're there before he shoots you, then help him out as much as you're willing." Shepard said with as much authority as she could manage. "I'm patching you into the rest of the squad."

"Will do, Commander Shep."

"Garrus and James. Kasumi Goto just contacted me. She's an old friend." Shepard told them.

"Hey Kasumi, it's nice to have you with us." Garrus said.

"Hey Garrus, you still hanging with Shep?"

"I can't seem to keep her away..." Kasumi laughed.

"Sexy voice, Miko." James said.

"Miko?" Kasumi asked.

"James makes up names for all the girls he meets." Shepard said. "And I'm afraid we must cut the introductions short."

"I think you should know they have a couple new types of troops." Kasumi said.

"Yeah? What are they like?"

"One type is able to cloak, and uses a sword of all things."

"Sounds like the Phantoms Miranda told us about." Shepard said.

"The other is all in black, and uses a laser guided sniper rifle."

"Laser guided sniper rifles...amateurs." Garrus scoffed.

"Anything else?"

"The lead Cerberus dude has some wicked looking black armor, he uses a sword, and has some biotic powers."

"Thanks for the info Kasumi. Stay safe."

"Roger that, Commander Shep."

Shepard and squad tore through dozens of Cerberus troops on their way to the executor's office, Commander Bailey's best guess for a location on the Salarian Councilor. Once there, they didn't find anyone other than the dead executor.

"No luck, Bailey. No Salarian Councilor." Shepard said.

"Don't count her out until you find a body. I don't have any evidence of her leaving the area."

"Wait..." Shepard said, looking from the executor's office into a nearby waiting area. She thought she saw something. The waiting area was large, and situated one floor below them. She looked through a large window over the entire area. Garrus and James joined her. While they watched a chair moved a couple feet on its own.

The Salarian Councilor uncloaked, looking embarrassed about her mistake. Instantly the Cerberus agent with black armor dropped from the rafters.

"It's him!" Shepard announced. She took her pistol and started beating on the window. The Salarian Councilor backed away from the agent as he pulled a sword from his back. James solved the problem by slamming his foot through the huge window. The shards of glass crashed to the floor below. Shepard leapt through the window frame to the floor below. The agent moved so the Councilor was between him and Shepard. He held his sword at the ready and lifted his other hand. While they watched he formed a biotic ball of energy in his hand. His black armor had a mask that covered his eyes.

Shepard saw James and Garrus in her peripheral vision. "Three on one, buddy. Give it up." She told him.

"No." He said with a cocky smile. "Now it's fun."

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Kasumi was perched in the rafters over an opening to a nearby shuttle landing pad, beyond which was the open area of the presidium. She was observing the situation in the waiting area with Thane, who was trying to enter the fray at the perfect time. Thane picked his moment and dropped to the floor behind the Cerberus assassin. The resulting confusion allowed the Salarian Councilor to escape behind Shepard and Company. Thane immediately started his assault. The Cerberus agent dodged his initial attack with ease. _Man he is fast._

A noise drew Kasumi's attention out to the shuttle pad. Two phantoms were hopping out of a shuttle. _Backup for the man in black. _One was masked, the other looked exactly like.. _Miranda? What the hell? _She whipped herself through the doorway and used shadow strike against the masked Phantom, which crumpled to the platform. The second phantom crouched low, holding its sword at the ready. Its movement gave it away. Miranda was smooth and sexy, not quick and catlike.

"You may look like Miranda, but you can't move like her." Kasumi said.

The phantom's eyes became slits and her forehead creased with malice. It slashed its sword at her. Kasumi flipped backwards, putting some distance between them. She started pelting the clone with pistol fire, keeping her from cloaking.

Just then pain exploded in her side. She shrieked. She looked down to see several inches of sword piercing the left side of her abdomen. _A third phantom! _She whipped her arm around, smashing her armored forearm into the side of the blade. It hurt like hell, but she had to disarm her attacker. The loud snap as the blade broke was very satisfying. The third phantom couldn't do anything but look at the hilt in her hand. Kasumi slashed up under its chin to kill it.

The pain was intense, but she forced herself to turn towards the Miranda clone. The smirk she was wearing was definitely not a Miranda look. Kasumi kept her pistol on her and reached down with her left hand. She gripped the tip of the blood-slick sword with two fingers, staying away from the edge. The thing was so incredibly sharp that it didn't involve much effort to remove, not that it didn't hurt. The weight of the blade was enough to cut deeper as she pulled it from her skin. She couldn't hold back the tears.

The Miranda clone watched her with an ugly grin. It seemed to enjoy watching her pain. Kasumi was wondering why she didn't cloak. _Maybe as a clone they wanted her to be seen. It's possible she lacks a cloaking device._ The sword made it pretty obvious this wasn't Miranda, so Kasumi guessed Cerberus was only hoping for a few seconds of confusion from Shepard. Kasumi's blood was flowing freely with the sword removed. _Damn it Shepard. You got me hurt._ She dropped the sword blade and moved to a nearby wall, leaning against it. She clutched her left hand over her wound.

The clone approached her slowly, still wearing that sick grin. Kasumi slid to the ground, still clutching her pistol, though she wasn't sure she could fire it. It was certainly drooping as her hand lost strength. When the clone was just a meter away a howl made both look to the doorway. The black armored Cerberus agent sprinted through the door and across the landing pad. He leapt into the shuttle which immediately ascended. The clone made a sound of irritation. Shepard followed the agent right to the edge of the platform. She pelted the side of the shuttle with SMG fire until it was out of range. A mountain of a man ran after Shepard, joining her in watching the shuttle escape, Kasumi guessed this was James.

"Shepard!" The clone said, standing so Kasumi was hidden, sword sheathed on her back. The voice was a perfect match for Miranda.

Shepard whipped around, pistol up, but it quickly dropped. "Miranda? What are you doing here?" The clone walked slowly towards her.

"Shep! It's not Miranda!" Kasumi yelled out.

"Wha..?" Shepard shifted to the side, seeing Kasumi for the first time. "Kasumi?" Shepard's eyes grew wide. Kasumi knew she looked awful, with a growing pool of blood around her.

"Look out!" Kasumi yelled out in desperation. Shepard woke up enough to jump backward. The clone's sword cut her SMG in half. The muscle bound man saved the day, letting loose a barrage of bullets from an assault rifle. The Miranda clone was thrown to the ground in a bloody heap. Shepard looked at her briefly before running to Kasumi. Kasumi dropped her pistol as Shepard reached her.

"Kasumi..." Shepard said, pulling out a medi gel. "Why didn't you say something?" She pulled Kasumi's hand out of the way.

"You were...busy." Kasumi said weakly. Shepard stuck the medi gel into the cut in her suit. Kasumi felt tired. Really, really tired. She shut her eyes.

"Kasumi! Stay with me!" Shepard grabbed her chin and looked into her eyes. Kasumi forced herself awake.

"Back side too..." She rolled a little to allow Shepard access. Shepard's gasp told her it looked bad. Her hazy vision swam with blue and green. The colors coalesced into Thane leaning heavily on Garrus.

"How are you doing, Thane?" Shepard asked, still applying gel to Kasumi's back. Kasumi guessed he was the howl she heard earlier. He had a similar sword wound in the center of his abdomen.

"I've got some time. Don't waste medi gel on me. How is Kasumi?" He sounded pretty weak.

"Not good. One of them nicked the artery near her spine." Shepard said. _No wonder I'm fading so quickly._ Shepard helped her into a seated position, giving her a gentle hug. "Rest, Kasumi. We'll get you medical help soon." She stood up and contacted Bailey.

"You're not looking so good, Miko." The muscle man crouched in front of her.

"You must be James." Kasumi said with a small smile.

"Nice to meet you." James said.

"I need two cars immediately Bailey, I don't care where you get them." Shepard said from behind James. "One for Thane and Kasumi... and the Salarian Councilor, if there's room. The other I need to get to the council chambers. The other councilors are in danger." Shepard shut the link. She and Thane had a quiet conversation, ending in a tender embrace. Shepard pulled away with wet eyes. She walked over to stand over the clone.

"You taking care of Shep?" Kasumi asked. James looked over at Shepard.

"Lola? Yeah, she don't make it easy, though."

Kasumi laughed, then stopped with a sharp intake of breath. "True, she does not." She grew quiet and watched Shepard. She was crouched over the corpse's head.

"Demon. How dare you put my angel's face on someone else." Shepard said to no one.

"Who's 'Demon'?" James asked quietly.

"The Illusive Man, I guess. Him and Shep don't get along."

"Didn't he bring her back from the dead?" He asked.

"Yep, and in return she destroyed the Collector base he wanted, turned the Normandy SR2 over to the Alliance, and stole his top operative."

"Nice one, Lola." Kasumi smiled.

Shepard walked back over to Kasumi. Her eyes were red. "James, can I have a minute alone with Kasumi?"

"Sure, Lola." He left them alone.

"How are you doing?" Shepard asked.

"Pretty light headed, actually, and tired." Kasumi told her.

"You lost a lot of blood, but you're going to make it through this. You know how I know you're going to make it?"

Kasumi gave her a small smile. "How?"

"Because you need to be my maid of honor."

Kasumi was strangely silent.

"Please?" Shepard asked.

"Shep! Of course!" She reached her arms out quickly. Too quickly. Pain shot from her side. Shepard quickly wrapped her arms around her.

"Easy Kasumi. Be careful." Kasumi held onto her until the pain subsided.

"Did you...ask her...yet?" She whispered into Shepard's ear.

"No...I'm waiting until she gets her sister back."

"Think I could be your best man instead?" Kasumi asked.

"If you want...why?" Shepard pulled back to look into her face.

Kasumi gave her a smirk. "Because bachelor parties are more fun than bridal showers."

Things happened fast once the shuttles arrived. Kasumi found herself loaded into a shuttle next to Thane. Shepard rushed to the other transport once they were both safely secured. Before Shepard left Bailey let them know he slowed the bastard in black down, somehow. To distract herself from the pain Kasumi started devising the ultimate bachelor party.

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Kaiden couldn't understand why the C-sec comm link was broadcasting white noise. Cerberus would shut the signal down completely if they took over C-sec HQ, they wouldn't go to the trouble of piping white noise back through it. The only other explanation was the signal was being jammed somehow, but that needed to be done locally, which meant someone close...close enough that they wouldn't bother to jam the signal, they would start shooting.

Kaiden was leading the councilors to a waiting shuttle, where he would escort them to safety. They were currently in an elevator, approaching the departure level. He trained his assault rifle on the doors in anticipation.

A thumping noise came from above them. He jerked his rifle up towards the maintenance hatch.

"Someone's on top of the elevator! Get back!" He yelled at the councilors. They shifted towards the walls. He got into the position with the least chance of a deflected shot. He put four shots in a line through the roof of the elevator. He didn't hear anything that would give evidence of a hit, but the target could have fallen off the elevator. The elevator doors opened.

Quickly he ushered the councilors out of the elevator, keeping his rifle on the elevator as he backed towards the shuttle. Glancing back he noticed smoke. The shuttle was destroyed. _Damnit!_

"Cerberus got the shuttle. Back into the elevator!" He turned back to the elevator, only to find Shepard sealing it up. Garrus and James Vega were with her. "Shepard? What's going on?" He asked, putting himself between her and the councilors. He pointed his assault rifle at the ground in front of her.

"Shepard's blocking our escape! She's with Cerberus!" Councilor Udina said. Shepard waved to her squad and they dropped their weapons to their sides.

"Just hang on, I've got this. Everyone calm down." Kaiden said, trying to diffuse the tense situation.

"I can explain, Kaiden." Shepard said, holding her pistol at her side. _Not that she needs a pistol to be dangerous._

"Come on, Shepard. You and a full squad coming after the councilors. It looks kinda bad." He said, still holding his weapon up, though not pointing it directly at her.

"We don't have time to negotiate. Udina's behind this attack." She said. "The salarian councilor confirmed it."

"Please." Udina interrupted with a sneer. "You have no proof. You never do." _But she's been right every damn time._ Kaiden fought internally between his former trust in Shepard and his obligation to Udina. _Do I trust her? _In his head he went over the same facts and suspicions. _What did she do for Cerberus? From what I've heard, she betrayed Cerberus at every opportunity. The Alliance did not agree with her assessment of the collectors, look where that got them. They ignored the threat of the Reapers until they landed. Other than her brief association with Cerberus, she's proven more trustworthy than the councilors._

"Cerberus is right behind us. If you open that elevator they will have the councilors." Shepard pointed towards the doors.

Kaiden felt his resolve start to break. _This is Shepard. Other than that Cerberus debacle, she's never done wrong, and the period with Cerberus was, well, let's just call it an unknown. Not to mention, her, Garrus, and James could take me out in seconds. If she really wanted to take out the councilors, she would already be shooting._

"To hell with this." Udina said from behind him.

"I hope I don't regret this." Kaiden said, turning to see Udina operating a terminal.

"You won't." Shepard said from behind him.

"Councilor Udina, step away from that console." He did not.

Before Kaiden could do anything, the Asari councilor walked to Udina and physically pulled him away from the terminal. Udina struck back, throwing her to the ground and pulling a gun from his jacket. A shot rang out. Udina crumpled to the ground. It took Kaiden a moment to realize he fired his gun.

He stood in shock for a moment. A hand touched his shoulder. "You alright Kaiden?" Shepard asked from beside him.

"I'm pretty sure shooting a councilor counts as a black mark on my record, Commander." He said.

"You were in the right, he was threatening the other councilors." She told him.

"I know." He said, shaking his head. "I'm alright."

Just then a noise drew their attention to the elevator doors. "Get behind cover!" He yelled at the turian and asari councilors. A glowing weld line formed along the seam of the door. Someone was cutting through the door. Shepard's team lined up in front of the door. Kaiden lined up next to them, assault rifle raised.

Shepard's hand went up as soon as the door opened. The team lowered their weapons. "Bailey?!" She said. The C-sec Commander stepped from the elevator lowering his weapon.

"Cerberus took off through the keeper tunnels when they figured out we were following them, Shepard." Kaiden walked over to the councilors and helped them back to their feet. "It looks like that asshole in black destroyed all video surveillance of himself before he left too." Shepard cursed.

00000000

Kai Leng's omni tool vibrated. The call he'd been dreading was coming through. He opened up the line.

"So, if my data is correct, the salarian councilor is still alive and Udina is dead, along with several phantoms, several nemesis, and one of the clones." The Illusive man said. Kai Leng could hear him take a long drag on a cigarette. "Aside from the expendable Udina, how can I see this as anything but an utter failure?"

"Sir." Kai Leng assumed speaking less was the least painful option.

"I'm surprised you let Shepard get the better of you, Leng. It makes me wonder whether the billion credits we put into your implants weren't better spent elsewhere." He could imagine the sneer on the old man's face.

"It won't happen again." Kai Leng told him with conviction.

"We'll see." The Illusive man replied. Leng growled under his breath. "I'm sending you a consolation prize, not that you deserve it." He cut the connection.

Kai Leng looked at the data transmission and his frown lifted into a smile. It was his first smile in months.

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"Guide this one to where the traveler never tires, the lover never leaves, the hungry never starve. Guide this one, Kalahira, and she will be a companion to you as she was to me." Kolyat read from his prayer book as Thane died in his hospital bed. Shepard stood beside him with her head down. A few tears dripped from her eyes.

"Thank you, Thane." She didn't expect to feel so much loss. Thane certainly gave her plenty of warning about his coming demise. Perhaps it was such a slow process she assumed she would die before he did. Perhaps it was because he went out in such a heroic fashion, saving the salarian councilor from an elite Cerberus agent.

The long term effects of Kepral's syndrome meant his body couldn't repair the deep wound from the Cerberus agent's sword, even with medi-gel and blood transfusions from his son Kolyat. Shepard reached over and closed Thane's eyes.

"Kolyat, that prayer didn't sound like it was for Thane." Shepard said after several quiet minutes.

"It was for you, Commander. He asked me to read it when you arrived." Kolyat told her.

"Thank you, Kolyat." Shepard looked at the young drell. "Let me know if there's anything I can do for you."

"Thank you, Commander. You've done more than you know."

She exited Thane's hospital room and entered the room next door. Kasumi looked unusual without her hood. She was still unconscious following the surgery to repair her artery. Shepard peeked under the covers to see a large bandage around her middle.

A doctor entered, looking at her in shock. "Who are...Commander Shepard!?" Fame had its advantages. One of them was not having to explain who you were.

"How is Kasumi?" She asked, cutting through the normal barrage of questions.

"Miss Goto should make a full recovery within a week." The doctor told her. "Someone applied medi-gel at the scene, probably saving her life."

"Good." Shepard said, looking fondly at Kasumi. "Make sure this room is secure. We've made a few enemies together. I can supply guards if necessary."

"Ok. I will update her status in the system, and request guards from C-sec."

"Tell Commander Bailey that Commander Shepard is making the request."

"Yes, ma'am." The doctor made accessed his omni tool. Shepard turned back to Kasumi.

"You get better, Kasumi. You and I have plans to make." She bent down and kissed Kasumi on the cheek.

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"Kaiden?" Kaiden was waiting for Shepard in the Normandy airlock.

"I'm trying to wrap my head around what happened." He said.

"About Udina?" She asked.

"How it all went down, it's got me...I don't know." He looked down.

"Tell me what's bothering you." Shepard told him.

"It's not every day you have an armed standoff with someone you..." He glanced up at her, then restarted. "If I hadn't backed down, I feel like you would have taken me out."

"You know I lowered my weapon. I trusted you, and I knew you'd come around." She gave him a smile.

"But sometimes the way anything goes down does matter, Shepard. Knowing that you acted with integrity, it matters." He said, bringing his eyes up to meet hers.

"You're talking about Udina." She told him, seeing...remorse...shame in his eyes. "Kaiden, he gave you no choice. He pointed a weapon at a counselor."

He pondered what she said for a minute. "All right. Thanks." He gave her a wan smile. "There's another reason I'm here. Hackett offered me a position, but I'd turn it down in a second if there was a chance to join you on the Normandy."

Shepard was shocked. _Kaiden would give up his own Spectre command to follow me?_ "Welcome aboard, Major." She said with a smile.

"Thank you, Commander." He grew serious. "And Shepard...I need you to know that I'll never doubt you again."

"Good to know." Shepard said before motioning him to the door.

00000000

"To Thane!" Shepard exclaimed for the thirteenth time, by Garrus' count. James and Cortez joined in. She'd been toasting Mordin and Thane for several hours now. He was surprised she was still able to sit on the barstool.

"Shepard, I think you've had enough." He said.

She turned and took a while to focus on him. "Nonsensse. I don't think..." She turned back to the empty bottles in front of her. "Three?"

"Yes, three bottles." Garrus told her with a smirk. She turned back towards him.

"I don't think three bottles begins to express how much I will miss Mordin or Thane." She looked down at her lap, then jerked her head back up and took another gulp of amber liquid. Garrus noticed her eyes were wet. _Watching her cry would be worse than watching her drink herself into oblivion. There's got to be a way to end this._ Though he was loath to admit it, he wished Miranda was around. Shepard needed someone to talk her out of her overwhelming sense of guilt, or distract her from it.

Garrus recalled his own very similar reaction when his squad was wiped out, but he wasn't on an active mission at the time. They needed Shepard sharp. He sent a quick message to Liara. _Someone has to be able to get through to her._

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Liara was forwarding some Shadow Broker resources to the Crucible project when Garrus' message came through. She frowned. _We don't want the self-destructive Shepard to return._

She entered the lounge to find Shepard toasting Mordin. Garrus looked at Liara gratefully. She took a deep breath.

"Shepard?" She said.

"Liara! Join us! We are toasting fallen friends." She raised a glass somewhat unsteadily.

"Shepard, come on. It's past time you left for bed." Liara took the glass from her, putting it back on the bar.

"But..." She said, slurring her words and making a shaky grab towards the glass. Garrus slid her drink away as Liara gently pulled her from her stool.

"No buts." Liara said in a firm tone of voice. "You need to be ready when we reach the ex-Cerberus scientist's base tomorrow."

"You don't want a repeat of Haestrom, Shepard." Garrus added. Liara wasn't on Shepard's mission to rescue Tali from certain death on the planet deep in geth space, but she heard the results. Shepard lost most of her back protecting Miranda from a geth hunter. Shepard quit resisting.

She stumbled as Liara pulled her from her seat, then started walking a diagonal line not quite towards the door. Garrus hopped off his stool and grabbed her arm. Liara took her other arm. They led her to the elevator.

Once Shepard was safely in her bed, Garrus left. Shepard lay on her bed with her arm draped over her eyes.

"Liara? Will you join me?" Liara could see tears forming in the corners of Shepard's eyes.

"I..." She trembled.

"Please?" Shepard asked, clearly very unhappy…most likely at herself.

"I'll send Traynor up." She said, turning quickly towards the door.

"Liara?" Shepard said as she left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Angel and the Demon

Chapter 6

Bioware owns the rights to all characters other than Samantha.

Shepard woke with a slight headache, surprised it wasn't worse. She vaguely remembered Liara and Garrus helping her into bed, but couldn't remember anything past that point. She started to roll onto her back and couldn't. Someone had an arm wrapped around her bare middle, and they were snuggled up against her. The feeling of bare skin told her that someone wasn't wearing much of anything. She scooted away from them, then turned over.

"Morning, Commander." Specialist Traynor said with a smile. It took a few seconds to work its way through her head. She felt herself, noticing she wasn't wearing much, but she wasn't naked. Her sparse underclothes covered just enough that she wasn't going to turn beet red.

"Specialist Traynor. How did you get here?" She asked, trying to keep shock out of her voice.

"Dr. T'soni told me you needed some company last night." She said brightly. "You were sleeping when I got up here, so I undressed you and made sure you were comfortable. Is there a problem?"

"No..." Shepard grimaced as a spike of pain hit above her eyes.

"Good. I'll come back tonight." She gave another bright smile. "Do you mind if I use your shower? The showers downstairs are awful."

"No, go ahead." Shepard laid on her back, draping her arm over her forehead.

"Thanks." Traynor said. As she threw off the covers, Shepard noticed she was completely nude. Her eyes opened wide.

"Traynor?" She exclaimed, rising up on her elbows.

"Commander?" Traynor asked, turning to give her a full unashamed look at her perfect hourglass figure. She was absolutely beautiful. She was taller than Miranda, and had darker skin, but other than that, they could be twins. Shepard stared at her for a full minute.

"Never mind." Shepard flopped back to the bed shaking her head.

"Don't worry, Commander. I won't occupy your shower for long." With that she turned and walked to the shower.

Shepard started hitting her forehead with her fist. Whether it was to ease her headache or keep her from thinking about the beauty in her shower, she couldn't decide.

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Miranda glanced behind her. She could have sworn she heard something. With the complete lack of doors the Sanctum facility was unbearably drafty. Seeing nothing she turned back towards her console.

She was baffled by her most recent search. The only internal Cerberus scholastic instructor requests were directing her towards a facility on Horizon called Sanctuary. However, the Sanctuary facility was an Alliance refugee center, not a Cerberus facility at all. She made a note to explore the facility records further.

Another noise drew her attention behind her. As she turned pain exploded in her shoulder. She flung herself to the side, only to scream as the pain intensified. A reflection pulled her gaze to her shoulder. _A sword!_ _Phantom!_

Miranda rolled forward off the blade, landing on her wounded side. She took a sharp breath, then threw a warp at the now uncloaked phantom. The phantom was flung away. She grabbed her pistol from the desk. Her right arm was screaming, so she switched the pistol to her offhand. She peppered the phantom till its shield was gone, then killed it with a warp. She stood slowly. _Where's the rest of the squad?_

An invisible hand grabbed her arm, ripping the pistol out of her grip. She yanked her arm away only to feel someone else grab her other arm. As the cloak failed on the pair of attackers, one dug its hands into her wounded shoulder. The pain made her drop to her knees. Tears clouded her vision instantly. Her free arm was secured. A man in black uncloaked in front of her.

Even with her hazy vision she recognized him instantly.

"Kai Leng." She muttered. The phantoms on either side pulled her arms straight. They dragged her in front of a huge window, standing her up in a spread eagle pose.

"Lawson." He said with a sneer. "It seems that spending time with Shepard has made you weak."

"Perhaps...let's change roles and I'll take four against your one." She delayed, trying to think of a way to send Sam a message. She tried to block out the pain in her shoulder, concentrating on her omni-tool arm. If she could just wriggle it out of the grip of the phantom, she should be able to send a quick message.

"Get on your knees." Kai Leng commanded. One of the phantoms placed a sword against her neck. It was sharp enough that blood started to trickle from where it touched her neck, even though it was barely leaning against her. Any quick movements and she wouldn't have any need of a doctor. She got down on her knees. "Cross your legs." He told her. She crossed her legs behind her. The classic military subjugation position put her completely under their command. There was no way to escape the hold, much less take out three agents. She closed her eyes and did not hold back the tears. They dripped down her face. Kai Leng sneered.

"Look at how far you have fallen." Kai Leng said.

_I'm sorry Sam. I love you. _She opened her eyes to peer at the notoriously homophobic Kai Leng. "Tell me what's worse, Leng; that Shepard had me, or that you never did?" She could see the glare through his mask.

Then he kicked her square in the chest, sending her crashing through the window into the abyss outside the base.

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At that moment Samantha Shepard was talking to a group of ex-Cerberus scientists on the opposite side of the galaxy. The planet was a miserable frozen wasteland on the far edge of the galaxy, but Cerberus found them anyway. They arrived to find the facility under siege, and Shepard, EDI, and James laid waste to a dozen Cerberus troops before making their way through the doors. Shepard met an unexpected old friend as she entered the shuttle bay. Jacob Taylor was acting as head of security for the group. He was wounded during the attack, but wouldn't get treated until he checked on the defenses. A lady named Dr. Brynn Cole was running the facility. Jacob gave them the bad news shortly after they arrived, the main defenses for the lab, a pair of anti-aircraft guns, were inoperative. Cerberus troops were dropping everywhere unopposed.

Brynn was leading Shepard through the facility, discussing their plight between giving orders to the scientists. Another doctor approached them.

"Brynn, I can't possibly dismantle the genetic amplification components in time." He said.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Baynar, it's important work, but right now you need to tend to your family." The man left.

"Wait! There are families here? Children?" Shepard exclaimed.

"A dangerous choice, though it does reduce the possibility of security breaches." EDI said.

"We tried so hard to make sure it wouldn't come to this." Brynn said. She shook her head, then walked away to continue the evacuation efforts.

"Where's Jacob! We need to get those guns back online!" Shepard said, searching the large room for her former teammate. He hobbled towards her, still bleeding from the earlier skirmish. "What's our status?" She asked.

"Can't tell. I only know I can't fix it from here. I'm going to the roof." He said.

"You're in no shape to climb to the roof." Shepard said.

"Cerberus landed a shuttle there a few minutes ago." Jacob told her.

"I'll handle it."

"No way. These are my people. I'm going." He proclaimed.

"You're in no shape to fight either. Get yourself patched up. Then help evacuate this place."

"Fine, but I'm going to talk you through it from here. Cerberus is probably jamming the satellite dish." He said.

"Okay." Shepard said. They linked communications. She led James and EDI to the maintenance hatch.

They reached the roof to find the Cerberus agents standing around. _Surely they know we wiped out the crew in front of the shuttle doors. What are they thinking?_

She threw a shockwave through the bunch, shooting a shield generator as the biotic attack tore through them. A centurion and engineer lived through the initial attack. They were quickly dispatched by James and EDI. The communication array was past some equipment and between some rooftop buildings. Shepard peeked over the equipment to analyze the situation. A dozen or so troops were waiting at the ready. Two engineers and two centurions were the only threats.

EDI started the skirmish by overloading shields on the key players, then it was only a matter of time till Shepard's warps and James' rifle fire took them down.

"Jacob, we're at the console." Shepard announced.

"Enter this code." He told her. She did. The console lit up, reacting to Jacob's commands. "No luck, the guns are still not responding. The problem must be with the guns themselves. You'll have to head back across the roof to them."

"Darn." Shepard uncharacteristically didn't curse. "All right folks, let's get to those guns." They turned to climb up to the roof on the main facility. Cerberus apparently figured out what they were doing. Shuttles were dropping troops all over it.

"Commander..." Joker hesitated through the comm link.

"What is it Joker? I'm kinda busy here." She threw a warp around some ductwork to take out a trooper.

"We got some urgent messages from Miranda." He told her.

"What did she say?" Shepard crouched behind some large pipes.

"'Cerberus.' And 'Hurry.' That's it." Shepard's heart started beating hard.

"That's it? Ask for more details!" She yelled into the receiver with more volume than necessary.

"We've tried. The Sanctum facility is no longer receiving messages." Joker sounded nervous.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Shepard cursed with quite a bit more enthusiasm than before. "All right. All right. Let's move." She told her squad. She leapt over the pipes and laid into the nearest Cerberus troops.

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James was surprised by Lola's focus. Once she found out there were children on site, she was driven to activate the guns. It was unexpected. She didn't seem the 'kid' type. Then he remembered that her parents were killed when she was very young. That probably gave her a soft spot for children.

He'd never seen anyone warp around corners like she did. It almost made him wish he had implants. They plowed through the ten guys between them and the communication console. A short conversation with Jacob and they were moving again. Then she received the disturbing news about her lady on Sanctum. _I need to think up a name for Miranda…the Ice Queen. _The Commander was moving quickly before, after that she was unleashed. He found it hard to keep up.

Between them and the guns were large sections of flat roof separated by short vertical sections, sort of like several large stairs. Ductwork and large pipes were strewn about the 'stairs'.

"Come on, EDI!" He yelled back to the android.

"Affirmative, Lieutenant Vega. I am coming." He looked back to see EDI pull herself onto the roof behind him. He looked forward to see Lola up against the next step, reaching her arm over the edge to spray SMG fire. A shuttle dropped troops off to her right.

"The Illusive man really wants these guys… EDI, Overload!" James yelled out. He finished the troops off with rifle fire after EDI's explosion of electricity. He looked forward towards Shepard to see her leap onto the next section of roof. _Damn it, Lola._ He followed her up the wall.

The pair of AA guns were mounted on raised platforms accessible by ladders. They were connected by a bridge. There was a manual assault cannon mounted near them. There were still troops covering the roof, but Shepard didn't wait. James watched in awe as she sprinted past them, rolling and dodging her way to a ladder, somehow evading most of the rifle fire. She bolted up the ladder nearest the cannon. When she reached the top of the platform, she warped the trooper using the big gun, then used it to lay waste to all Cerberus on the roof.

"EDI, James, get up here!" She yelled rushing to the furthest AA gun.

James reached the roof as Shepard activated the gun across the bridge. He ran to the closer one. The manual reset handle malfunctioned.

"No luck, Lola. This one needs to be repaired." Sparks flew from the housing. Shepard cursed as she jogged over.

"EDI, fix it!" She said as the android reached the platform.

"Affirmative, Commander." EDI started to dismantle the unit. Shepard was pacing very quickly. James saw a pair of shuttles dropping troops across the bridge by the other gun.

"Lola! Another wave coming!" James took a position on the edge of the bridge, and started firing. Before his first clip was spent it was over. Shepard remounted the big manual cannon and blasted the troops off the roof in seconds. He even noticed several of the special units with swords. When she finished with the troops, she laid into the few shuttles circling the sky. They left quickly.

"Repairs are complete, Commander." EDI said. The android flipped the switch and the guns instantly came to life. The servo motors engaged, rotating and raising the barrel. Two Cerberus gunships were blown out of the sky while they watched.

Soon afterward they found themselves back in the facility, and James again found himself watching Shepard pace.

"Commander, should we release the first shuttle or give it more time?" Dr. Brynn asked.

"Send them right away! Cerberus will be sending back up!" She said.

"All right." Jacob told her. "The first shuttle is loaded with everyone 16 and younger."

"Good." Shepard said, still pacing.

They watched the video feed as the shuttle lifted, then flew out the shuttle bay doors. It lifted into the stratosphere to a chorus of cheers. A loud boom killed the enthusiasm.

"A suicide pilot knocked out one of the AA guns!" Jacob exclaimed.

Shepard cursed. "Nothing is ever easy, is it?" She said, quietly enough that James barely heard it.

"Cerberus is dropping troops in front of the shuttle bay." Dr. Brynn announced.

"Damnit, Demon. You really are a bastard." Shepard cursed again, quickly grabbing her pistol and heading back towards the bay. James and EDI joined her in the jog downstairs.

The area in front of the shuttle bay had several crates and large pipes to hide behind, and it seemed every one of them had a Cerberus troop of some kind behind it. James was amused to see several more of the phantoms with their ridiculous swords.

Shepard ran up to the first set of crates, reaching over them to grab one of the phantoms. She got a good grip on its uniform before dragging it over the barrier, slamming its face into the ground behind her. She shot her pistol twice into its head.

James had to smile as he ducked below some crates on the opposite side of the platform. He quickly took out a shield generator before pounding away at a centurion.

"Cover me!" Shepard yelled out. James looked over to see her running to a set of crates further up, carrying the phantom's sword at her side. _What the hell?_

The next thing he knew she reached over the cover, slashing the sword through both Cerberus troops hiding behind it. They collapsed, falling to the ground next to their removed legs, shrieking like maniacs.

"EDI! Help cover the Commander!" James called out. He gave up on wearing down shields and concentrated on keeping the Commander alive.

For the next couple minutes they followed a routine. Shepard would reach a new spot of cover, hack through anyone hiding behind it, then throw warps to kill them. She didn't even have her pistol out any more. Once complete, she would find a new spot of cover to infiltrate. James and EDI were relegated to taking out any troops out of her range. James had to admit it was an interesting change of tactics, and seemed to work for the Cerberus troops. It would be less effective against enemies that didn't hide, like husks or ravagers. The ex-Cerberus scientists saw their opening, and started sending shuttles out over their heads. James didn't know how many shuttles there were, but it seemed like a lot.

They just started to relax as they approached the landing pad well beyond the shuttle bay doors. The few troops left were useless against the shuttles, and the team could dispatch them at their leisure. Shepard just started towards the next group when Cerberus dropped an Atlas. The thing blasted her with a rocket before reaching the ground. The rocket caught her unaware, and instantly knocked out her shields. She dropped the sword and tried rolling away. The Atlas landed with a boom before peppering her with gunfire. James could see the gunfire ricochet off her armor.

"EDI! Overload that thing!" James yelled out as he ran towards the commander. The other troops forgotten, he leapt over some crates to grab her hand. He dragged her around the crates to the sound of EDI's overload. Crouching behind the crates he was happy to see she was unharmed. She pulled her SMG off her back.

"Thanks James." She told him while waiting for her shields to replenish.

"No problem, Lola." He reached over the crates to start the laborious process of wearing down the Atlas. The thing blasted away at the crates when they reloaded. Shepard alternated between warps and gunfire to break through its defenses. The other Cerberus troops seemed to wait rather than assist the mechanical beast. Maybe they didn't know Shepard's tally of Atlas kills.

A minute later it exploded in a rain of metal. James was betting they had some kind of self-destruct system so no one could steal the technology. That was something Cerberus would do.

"Last shuttle!" Jacob called out over their comm link. "We'll pick you up."

The shuttle drifted past them before holding position over the landing pad. As they finished off the last few troops they heard the tell-tale sounds of more shuttles dropping troops behind them. If Cerberus was really desperate they'd crash a shuttle into theirs, like he did on Mars, but either they didn't think of it or didn't want to lose a shuttle.

A huge boom announced the arrival of another Atlas. "Go!" Shepard yelled. James leapt over the last barrier before bounding up the stairs to the landing pad. EDI matched his pace towards the shuttle.

James turned after jumping in. Jacob helped EDI into the shuttle to his left. Shepard had positioned herself off to the side, and was facing the Atlas alone. "Come on Lola!" He yelled.

She backed slowly up the stairs, still keeping off to the side. The Atlas hunkered down for a rocket launch. "She's going to get herself killed." James muttered.

"Shepard knows what she's doing." Jacob said. "She's been fighting Cerberus for a very long time."

The Atlas fired and Shepard moved with lightning speed, flipping herself into the air. The rocket impacted below her. "Go!" She yelled. She sprinted up the stairs, leaping into the shuttle as it lifted off.

"Told you." Jacob said. James looked to see him smirking. "She was just making sure it didn't fire that rocket into the shuttle."

"Ahhh, I should've known that." It seemed the more time you spent with Lola the less you doubted her. He was beginning to think all the unbelievable stories he heard were true.

They entered the Normandy soon after. Joker asked over the intercom. "Sanctum, Commander?"

"Show me the meaning of speed, Joker." She answered.

"I'll see what I can do, Commander." James rushed to stow his gear before the engines kicked in. He knew the trip would normally take two days, but even if it took an hour, it was probably too late to save Miranda. He could tell Shepard was thinking along the same lines.

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Shepard collapsed into her bed. Her arms and legs felt like jello. They were six hours into the journey to Sanctum. She paced in the cockpit until Garrus physically dragged her out. Then she went downstairs and sparred with James until he called for mercy. Still too nervous to sit down, she strapped on some gloves and beat on a bag until her arms wouldn't move any more.

Not that it was helping. She couldn't stop thinking, or rather worrying about Miranda. Her mind was coming up with even more convoluted reasons for the loss of communication that didn't involve her getting hurt. She was having a hard time thinking of any that seemed plausible. Especially in the light of the notes Miranda sent.

She still had 24 hours to wait according to Joker, and she didn't know how to handle it. She grabbed a pillow and wrapped herself around it.

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Oriana was starting to lose hope. It had been several weeks since her abduction. _What was keeping Miranda?_ She was starting to believe her asshole father was even more 'above the law' than she expected.

His visits were more pleasant recently, mostly because she was making an effort with her schoolwork. She had no access to external news reports or information, so reading and solving problems gave her some relief from an overwhelming sense of worry. She still treated everyone as an adversary. Her first chaos theory teacher had been replaced summarily after they started exchanging pleasantries. Creating an adversarial relationship between teacher and student wasn't conducive to learning, but it seemed her father didn't care. Luckily they weren't doing anything outside her previous schooling.

The most frustrating thing, beyond the fact that she was stuck away from friends and family, was that she desperately wanted to do something to assist with the war. None of the instructors would tell her anything about what was going on. One of them told her it was written into their contract. It was especially difficult for her history teacher. Occasionally he stopped in mid analogy before giving something away. Oriana couldn't help but laugh. It served them right for working for an asshole like her father.

She looked down at her outfit for a moment. It reminded her of Miranda's tactical outfit, though obviously lacking shields or armor. She had on leggings and a relatively tight t-shirt. It was tighter and more form fitting than anything she used to wear, but since her abduction she didn't want to wear anything loose. If she had an opportunity to escape she needed clothing that was hard to grab and wouldn't snag on anything. Her father complained once, saying she needed to appear feminine. The next day all similar clothing had been removed from her wardrobe, leaving only dresses. She spent the next day in panties and a sports bra as a protest. The clothes were back in her wardrobe the day after, and her father never brought up the issue again.

Her thoughts drifted back to Miranda. She hoped she was ok. They had grown quite close during the last eight months. It seemed Miranda had no one to confide in before they met. After Shepard was locked up she could feel Miranda pushing her out, going cold. Oriana had forced the issue, and they had a long discussion about Miranda's defense mechanism. The lack of emotional contact forced on her by their biological father made her seal herself off from everyone. Boyfriends and even lovers had been unable to break through.

It took Samantha Shepard to open her up. Miranda said the Commander simply talked, and given enough time anyone would open up. She had a way of understanding where anyone was coming from. A few minutes of talking and she would have you nailed down. A mercenary only out for themselves would be in trouble. A quarian on pilgrimage doing her part for the fleet would be given assistance. A scion raised by a bastard would be shown love and compassion.

Commander Samantha Shepard. Oriana had never met her in person. Soon after meeting Miranda for the first time she'd run a search for data about the Commander. Half the stories didn't seem true. She discussed them with Miranda, and she confirmed the reports, even adding some amazing details that were left out of the official reports for 'believability'. She was such an impressive soldier that Oriana couldn't believe she was personable enough to break Miranda out of her shell. She watched the vids of them together. Shepard was gentle, caring, and obviously adored her sister. Likewise Miranda seemed like a different person around her. Samantha would enter the room and Miranda would transform, instantly becoming more relaxed, softer. It was amazing to behold.

The Savior of the Citadel. Oriana marveled at the concept. Her sister was dating the Savior of the Citadel, and helped her defeat the collectors. What she wouldn't give to be on that ship, to be part of something so important.

She needed to get out of here.

She looked up to glare at the camera for the thousandth time.

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Shepard woke to dim lighting, so she knew it was early. EDI adjusted the lighting on the Normandy to simulate day and night cycles. From the looks of it, she had an hour or so until the crew got active.

She was still clutching a pillow, and she was still wearing the loose shirt and pants she worked out in. The warmth behind her told her Specialist Traynor, or possibly Liara, was with her. She pulled the arm from around her waist, noting it wasn't blue, and scooted off the bed.

"Morning, Commander. How are you doing?" Traynor said from behind her.

Shepard turned to see Traynor pulling herself up to sit against the headboard. Her fabulous breasts came into view. Normally Shepard would find them enticing, or distracting at the very least. Now they reminded her about someone else.

"I'm not sure, Traynor."

"I was sorry to hear the news from Sanctum."

"Yes. Me too." Shepard said.

"I know it doesn't look good, but Miss Lawson is very resourceful. If anyone can find a way to survive, she can." Traynor told her.

"Thank you, Traynor." Shepard headed for the shower.

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Liara entered Shepard's quarters holding a plate of food and a glass of juice. She noticed someone in the shower as she past, but the raven hair showed her it was definitely not Shepard. Her bright red hair was easy to spot. _Probably Specialist Traynor. _She found Shepard at her desk, flipping through pictures on her photo frame. Most of them were of Miranda.

"Shepard, I've brought you some food." Liara said.

"I'm not hungry." Shepard said, still flipping through images.

"You need your strength." Liara told her, placing the plate in front of her. "What happens if we meet resistance?"

"They will not live long."

"Yes, I realize that. But we still have the war against the Reapers. Surely you have not forgotten."

"No. I have not forgotten." Shepard tossed the frame onto her desk. Liara noticed that Shepard made sure it landed on something soft. "All right. What have we got here?"

"Fruit, eggs, and some bacon." Shepard started munching on a piece of bacon. "Shepard, I can't help but notice the naked woman in the shower."

"Traynor prefers my shower to those downstairs. As to the nudity, she doesn't think much of clothes. She sleeps in the nude, and doesn't seem to mind walking around with nothing on. You'll see, if you hang around a couple minutes." Shepard continued to eat.

"I'm sorry, Shepard." Liara said. Not entirely sure if it was about Miranda, or Traynor, or her own reluctance to get close.

Thankfully Shepard didn't ask. "Thanks, Liara." She continued eating in silence. Liara was not surprised that she cleaned her plate. She heard about her marathon workout the day before.

"Would you like more?" Liara asked.

"No, Liara. Thank you." Shepard looked back towards the photo frame.

The door to the shower opened and Traynor emerged, naked and glistening. She was drying her hair with a towel. With her head leaned to one side, the towel covered nothing. "Oh! Dr. T'soni! I didn't realize you were here." Liara saw what Shepard was talking about when she didn't even attempt to cover up. "I'll be out of your way momentarily."

"It's fine." Liara stammered, unable to keep the shock out of her voice. Traynor turned around and finished drying off. When complete she threw on a bright blue silk robe, tying it loosely around her waist. She walked back to crouch in front of Shepard, taking one of her hands into hers.

"Don't worry, Commander. We're going to find her."

"Thank you, Traynor."

"You're welcome." She smiled brightly. "Kasumi sent you a message, you can read it at your terminal." She rose, then left the cabin.

Liara turned back to Shepard to see her peering at her closely.

"What?" Liara asked.

"Are you going to ask her out?"

"What? Why?" Liara said, eyes widened in surprise.

"Your eyes didn't leave her the entire time she was here." Shepard said with a slight smile.

"I'm not used to such open behavior." Liara told her. "Besides, I think she's more interested in you."

"I'm taken." Shepard grew quiet.

"I know. I'm sorry, Shepard. I'll take your dish. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you, Liara."

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_Hey Shep!_

_Sorry to hear about Miranda. Hopefully she learned something from me when we infiltrated that Alliance holding cell, and she's unharmed and hiding somewhere. Your ice queen is pretty smart, after all._

_There are two guards at the entrance to my hospital room. I assume they are your doing. The girl seems convinced they're here to make sure I can't escape. The guy keeps telling her I'm a hero that helped defeat the collectors, and they're guarding me from possible attacks(I blame you for this ludicrous notion)._

_I should be out in a week or so, that phantom did a real number on me. Feel free to visit after you rescue your girl. I'm likely to be bored out of my skull, not to mention the food here is terrible._

_Kasumi_

_P.S. Bring Tequila._

Even her worried state. Shepard couldn't keep a smile from her face.

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Henry Lawson smiled. His project was progressing well. His test subjects converted as expected several weeks ago, instantly coming under Reaper control. The signal barrier came online last week, releasing them from Reaper control, and dropping the subjects into an almost catatonic state. Now, just today, they discovered the proper signal frequency and strength to give commands to the subjects. They currently didn't have the ability to give specific commands, but they would figure that out in time.

Boosting the signal to overcome all the Reapers was just a matter of resources. From his cursory examination of the crucible plans, it might be just what they needed. The Illusive man was keeping close watch on its progress. They did not want anyone but Cerberus in control once it was activated.

Oriana was also starting to come around. The instructors let him know she resumed her studies, and didn't spout off nonsense about being rescued any more. She wasn't being properly challenged yet, but he would allow the instructors to increase the load soon. He was in such a good mood that her boyish lesbian outfit didn't bother him much. He assumed it was some leftover Miranda manipulation. Oriana would revert to normal inclinations without her influence.

Speaking of which, The Illusive Man let him know Miranda was neutralized just this morning. His top agent found her at a low level Cerberus facility. Her elimination took a lot of pressure off him. Without Miranda, there was little chance their operation would be discovered until it was too late. He made a mental note to withhold Miranda's death until Oriana upset him.

"Sir! We lost all of batch 174G!" His assistant, Ricter...Wrictor...he could never remember his name... told him. His mood was high enough that the news about the most recent failed test group couldn't break his mood.

"It's fine, we'll start a new batch tomorrow. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" He told him.

The assistant stood in shocked silence for a moment, then leapt at the chance. "Ok Sir...thank you." He rushed from the room, obviously not giving him a chance to change his mind. Henry didn't even mind the reaction. His day was going well.

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The shot rang throughout the shuttle bay. Quickly followed by two more. The center of the metal target showed three marks forming a triangle.

"Nice, Shepard." Garrus told her. "Tell me again why you don't carry a sniper rifle."

"Too heavy Garrus. I'd have to wait a second longer to use warp."

Garrus set up the makeshift shooting range in the shuttle bay. He decided he had to do something to keep Shepard from driving Joker crazy, and this was the best he could come up with. James, Cortez, and several other crew members were behind them near the elevator, watching the proceedings.

Garrus reloaded the rifle and handed it back to her.

"Complete the circle." He told her.

"Complete the circle?" She gave him a sideways glance.

"Put a shot between each of those shots."

"Ahh." Shepard lined up again, holding her breathing steady. Three shots broke the silence.

"For someone with so little experience with a rifle, you sure show an aptitude for it." He said. The circle was less than perfect, but it had taken Garrus years of practice to do better.

"Well, drop a few pounds off it, and I'll consider carrying one." She said, handing him back the long gun. He slapped another thermal clip in.

"Sign it." He said, handing her back the weapon.

"Sign it...with the rifle? Now I know you're just trying to burn time."

"First target with six shots through the bullseye is always signed. I've got mine framed at home." He paused. "No guarantee it's still there though." Garrus went quiet.

"Sorry, Garrus. I'll do it."

After a dozen shots she said "At least my name isn't as long as yours, Vakarian." She started on the third letter.

"It's close. The last guy in my squad to get certified was named Pertorthenarius. The entire squad knew he intentionally delayed certification until he could sign his name decently. Most of us suspected he was practicing writing his name during off hours." Garrus smiled.

"I don't blame him." Shepard said after finishing her letter 'a'.

"Me neither. I did spend a few hours working on 'Vakarian'." Shepard finished up, handing Garrus the rifle. It didn't look bad at all.

"Can you throw a warp that far, Commander?" James called out from behind them. Garrus smiled. He couldn't tell if James figured out the current game of 'distract the Commander' or if he was simply interested, but it was a great idea. Garrus noticed Kaiden and Specialist Traynor had joined the spectators by the elevator.

"Sure. Though not that accurately." Shepard looked back at the group, who looked at her expectantly. She sighed. Kaiden joined Garrus by the requisition interface. He took the rifle and put it away. Probably a good idea if biotics were about to be thrown about.

Her first warp hit very close to her cluster of six rifle shots. Her second hit dead center. Her third was about a foot off.

"Damn she's good." Kaiden said quietly from behind him. As a biotic, Kaiden knew what kind of skill it took to accurately place biotic attacks. Garrus knew Kaiden had seen her on Mars, but before that it had been years since he'd seen Shepard in action. He also knew Kaiden had raised a rifle on her at the Presidium. Kaiden grabbed a bottle of juice from storage, taking it to Shepard.

"Good job, Shepard." He handed it to her. "I guess lowering your weapon isn't really much of a threat reduction."

"Same for you buddy." She smiled at him. "I'm surprised you never learned warp."

"Alliance sentinels are trained mostly in defense. You adepts get all the dangerous stuff." Kaiden told her. Still smiling, she downed the juice.

"Commander, how far can you curve your warp?" James said from behind them.

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Shepard woke feeling mentally rested, but physically drained... a common side effect of completely draining your biotic implants. She thought about the biotics show she put on in the shuttle bay. James set up some crates for her to warp around, slowly increasing the distance she warped around. In an attempt to distract herself from what they might find at Sanctum, she pounded on the target until she collapsed. She vaguely remembered Kaiden and Traynor helping her into bed. An arm was wrapped tightly around her waist. _If they're both in bed with me I'm going to kill them._

She pulled out from under the arm to find only Traynor in her bed. "Morning, Commander. How are you feeling?" A repeat from the day before.

"Morning, Specialist." Shepard said. "I'll let you know how I am later."

"Right. We reach Sanctum in two and a half hours." Traynor got out of the bed, again completely nude. Shepard looked down at herself, suddenly realizing she wasn't wearing anything but a t-shirt.

"Umm...Traynor..."

"Your clothes were soaked when we got you back to your room. So I undressed you and tucked you in."

"Just you?" Shepard asked. Traynor seeing her naked was something she could deal with. If Kaiden saw her she might die of embarrassment.

"Kaiden left soon after we arrived." She looked down in thought. "I don't think he likes me much." Shepard smiled.

"He's hard to get to know, Traynor. I wouldn't let it bother you." She told her.

"Ok, Commander."

"I'm going to take a shower and get ready for...today. You're welcome to keep sleeping if you want." Shepard told her, turning away.

"Would you like me to wash your back, Commander?" Traynor asked.

"No! Um...thank you, Specialist. I think I'm in enough trouble as is." Shepard opened the shower and slipped in.

"Why would you be in trouble?" Traynor asked. She did not get a response.

00000000

"What do the scans tell you, EDI?" Shepard asked. They were in Sanctum's atmosphere, but still above the clouds.

"Nothing. No electronic signals, feedback, or signs of life. I am sorry, Commander." EDI sounded as sad as a computerized voice could manage. Shepard gritted her teeth.

Garrus was watching Shepard closely. He was afraid she would revert to her personality following Virmire; cold and self-destructive. Ashley's death affected her badly, and she folded in on herself. It was several weeks until she started talking to the crew again, and she didn't really come back into herself until several weeks into the Collector missions. _After Miranda started opening up to her..._

"To the shuttle." Shepard said.

When they exited the cloud cover it looked very bad. Shepard hissed. "Demon will pay." She said, barely loud enough to hear.

The Sanctum facility was gone. Smoke was billowing from both the main facility and the security platform above it. To Garrus it looked like several gunships lined up in front of the facility and laid into it with everything.

"Shepard." EDI said through their comm link. "Our scans discovered an omni tool signal 100 meters below the laboratory. It is a weak signal, and I am unable to interface with it."

The shuttle started dropping before Shepard gave Cortez the order. The Sanctum Cerberus facility was situated in what looked like a metal cliff face, and had criss crossing framework below the facility for support. It was on one of these meter wide support beams that they found Miranda. Garrus didn't know if this was better than never seeing the body.

Miranda was propped up against the wall by the rafter, so she was alive when she reached the beam. A large pool of dried blood was centered beneath her right side. Her sleeve was ripped off on that side and wrapped around her shoulder, presumably to bind a wound. Her head was bent down to her chest. Bits of debris covered the beam around her.

"No..." Shepard said.

"Sorry, Shepard." Garrus said, putting his hand on her back.

"No!" Shepard leapt from the shuttle a couple meters from the rafter, landing in a crouch. She slowly crept to the body, avoiding blackened debris as she approached Miranda. Garrus dropped to the rafter after her. Kaiden stayed in the shuttle with Cortez.

Shepard looked afraid to touch Miranda. She crawled up to her side, reaching under her chin to raise her head. Her eyes were closed. Almost two days of exposure cracked her lips and noticeably dried her skin. Shepard put her hand to her neck.

"She's still warm!" Shepard held her hand at Miranda's neck. "There's a pulse!"


	7. Chapter 7

Angel and the Demon

Chapter 7

Bioware owns the rights to all characters other than Samantha.

Shepard looked over her angel. Two days of IV fluids had returned Miranda's skin to normal. Her lips had healed, reducing the cuts to a few red lines. The wound in her shoulder was healing well after the application of several medi gel packs. The multitude of cuts on her back, from being kicked through a window, were almost gone; along with the small cut on her neck. The foot shaped bruise on her chest, something that bothered Shepard greatly, was gone.

Shepard stroked the bruise location through Miranda's hospital gown. _This was personal. Whoever did this knew you, and hated you. When I find them, they are going to feel pain._ Miranda was still unconscious after her near death experience. Dr. Chakwas assured Shepard she would wake soon. Then they would find out who did this to her.

"Commander, we're entering the Mesana system. Ten minutes to Lesuss." Joker announced.

"Be there in three, Joker." Shepard said. She leaned over Miranda, stroking her hair and kissing her gently. Then she pushed her face into her hair, breathing deeply. "See you soon, Angel." She said into her neck. She stood up and put her helmet on.

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Miranda found herself reliving the attack again and again. She knew she was back on the Normandy, even hearing the occasional word from Sam or Dr. Chakwas. She knew her ordeal was over, but her mind was forcing her to relive the events.

She felt the impact as Kai Leng kicked her, and the almost instantaneous second impact with the window. Sharp pains cut into her back and head from the sheet of glass. She flipped over the fall began. She soon faced the abyss below. It was dark, with a few structural braces crossing the chasm. She fell fifty meters in moments.

_Wait! _She kicked in her biotics, slowing her downward plunge. One of the structural beams was close. She thought she could reach it. The effort caused blood to surge from her sword wound, and the feeling shocked her enough to release her biotics for a second. Her fall resumed.

_No!_ She forced her biotics to regain control, slowing her descent for a second time. She drifted towards the beam with growing pain in her shoulder. Her head also let her know it wasn't happy with her efforts. Pain started growing behind her eyes.

When the metal beam was mere meters away her biotics started to fail. Her downward movement sped up. She concentrated her efforts to keep her descent constant. _I must reach the beam. _ Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision. She knew it would be so much easier to just let go, but she wouldn't. She had to live…for Oriana…for Sam.

She reached out with both arms as she neared the beam. Upon grasping the metal her wounded arm screamed. It released its grip involuntarily. Her body twisted away from that side, rotating away from the beam. She clung desperately with her other hand. She briefly looked into the abyss before twisting herself back around to the beam. She clung to the beam with her good arm, and forced her wounded arm back up to grip the metal. Blood dripped down her front in rivulets. She pulled herself onto the beam using mostly her good arm, crawling to the middle of the beam. Her strength spent, she collapsed onto her back. A thought burst into her head. _I must get a message to Sam, Cerberus protocol will designate them to destroy the communication hub._

She forced her right arm up, bringing up her omni tool. The pain in her shoulder was acute, though much less intense than the pain in her head. She quickly forwarded two messages through her comm link to the facility. They didn't contain much information, but it would be enough for Samantha to understand. Her arm dropped limply at her side. She looked up at the Cerberus shuttle. Kai Leng and the phantoms jumped in as she watched. They could look down at any moment. She decided it would be safer near the wall, and laboriously pulled herself into a sitting position against the wall.

She watched several gunships line up outside the facility. The shuttle left as the last one took its position. The gunships fired multiple rockets into the lab. Rocket after rocket smashed into the opening above her. A cacophony of noise assaulted her from above as explosions rocked the beam she was lying on. She curled into a fetal position against the wall. Debris flew out of the facility, some of which bounced off the beam around her. Several large objects fell out, burning as they flew past her. A particularly large piece come out, flames were leaping from each end. _It's falling straight at me!_

Miranda covered her head as well as possible with her good arm. The flaming debris crashed into the beam less than a meter from her, splitting into two with a huge cloud of smoke and sparks. Luckily the beam was not damaged.

When the smoke cleared she looked up to see the gunships taking off. She was stuck on a beam below a burning facility, and Sam was probably days away(assuming she got her messages at all). No food or water was available, and she was bleeding. _Hopeless, but I will try, for Sam and Oriana. Shoulder is bleeding, but no arteries are punctured. I might as well deal with that first._ She grabbed the hole the sword made in her suit. She touched her wound briefly, sending a spike of pain through her shoulder. She closed her eyes, then started pulling at the material. The material thankfully tore in a circle around her arm. She pulled off her sleeve with some difficulty. After resting for a moment, she wrapped it around the wound in her shoulder as well as possible, then tightened the knot with her teeth.

Miranda fought the dream's hold on her. She remembered living through it once already. She didn't want to keep repeating the experience. _Wake up! Now! Sam needs you!_ _Oriana needs you!_

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A piercing shriek made the squad drop behind some concrete barriers containing plants. It seemed to go on longer than possible.

"What the fuck is that?" Shepard said from her crouched position beside Liara.

"No idea, Lola." James said from a nearby concrete barrier.

Liara peeked over the barrier to see an asari, or what used to be an asari. It was taller than normal asari, stretched and grotesque. Its skin was grey. It looked like a very tall asari that was half dead. The sunken eyes and desiccated body looked horrific. Biotics glowed around it. As she watched it jumped a couple meters towards them.

"Kill it!" Liara yelled in a panicked tone.

James and Shepard immediately started shooting at it. Liara threw a singularity at it, but the thing ignored it. She cowered behind the barrier.

"Liara? Are you all right?" Shepard asked.

"The Reapers could make me into that?" She asked, still crouched behind the concrete.

"Liara! Shoot it!" Shepard commanded.

_Not like I can do anything else to it._ Liara pulled out her pistol, but her hands were shaking. She was only able to get a good shot off every couple seconds. The thing went down after another minute, shrieking out a final scream.

"You ok Liara?" Shepard asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I could really become one of those things?" She asked.

"Sure...if you're weak willed, and have nothing left to live for." Shepard told her.

_Do I have anything left to live for?_ Liara looked at the embers left by the asari reaper.

"Hey!" Shepard said, turning her to look into her eyes. "The Dr. T'Soni I know is not weak, and definitely has a life to live."

Liara gave her a wan smile. _I had something to live for..._

The asari high command requested the Normandy run a sweep of the Ardat Yakshi monastery to look for survivors, and to find out why their asari commando squads never returned from the place. Shepard was noticeably nervous about the possibility of meeting Ardat Yakshi, but agreed to investigate.

So far it looked like the commandos were all killed by the Reapers; cannibals, mostly, but there were plenty of them. If the thing they just killed used to be an asari, then it was pretty obvious why they were here. They were harvesting.

The next room had several cannibals. Standard Reaper troops, Shepard and James hardly needed her help. She shot at a few of them, but knew she wasn't contributing much. She was still shaking enough to throw off her aim.

"Doc? You forget about your singularity?" James asked after the battle was over.

"You two seem to have the situation under control." She told them.

"Maybe, but it's still cool to blow these cannibals into the walls." Shepard said, clapping her on the back. Then quietly so James couldn't hear. "I don't have to bring you on missions, Liara. You can stay on the Normandy if you would prefer. I just thought you might like to see this."

"No, I appreciate this opportunity Shepard. I just feel less than useful if they can ignore my singularity." She told her.

"Liara, they might not be effected by the lift component of your singularity, but I'll bet they still feel it when blown up with a warp. Or you could just use a warp directly. They're not immune to biotics."

"Yes, you are correct. I apologize, Shepard." _Great. Now she thinks I'm whining._ Shepard nodded and headed towards the next room. Liara shook her head sharply.

_Damnit! Snap out of this, Liara! Yes, Shepard did not fall for you like you hoped. Get over it. You cannot curl in on yourself. You are better than this. Shepard needs you. The asari need you._

The next room brought a welcome sight; a survivor. Unfortunately the asari was being chased by a cannibal, and was running away from them. Shepard raised her weapon to attack, knowing she had to be careful about the asari.

It proved unnecessary. In a whirl of biotic energy, another asari in full battle armor dropped from above and blasted the cannibal with a warp. It collapsed into a heap.

"Samara?" Shepard said, staring at the asari warrior.

"Mother? You came?" The asari without armor said.

"As soon as I was able." The asari warrior, told her. She turned to the squad. "Shepard, this is Falere, my youngest."

"The Ardat Yakshi." Shepard said. She took a step back. Her last experience with one left her with a shattered memory. She didn't remember friend or lover after the ordeal. Liara didn't know how, but Miranda broke through the hold the Ardat Yakshi put on her and restored her memory.

"Mother, they have Rila!" Falere told her.

"What do they want with her?" Shepard asked.

"They're harvesting us." Falere said. She led them over to the corpse of one of the Reaper corrupted asari. "They make us into these...these things."

"Where did they take Rila?" Samara asked.

"The Great Hall." Falere said.

"That's probably where they took the bomb." Shepard said.

"Bomb?" Falere said, backing away. "You're just like the commandos...they didn't want to rescue anyone either."

"Wait!" Shepard yelled, but it was too late. Falere leapt over a nearby railing, using biotics to drift slowly to the floor below.

"Head to the Great Hall. Through that door." Samara pointed before similarly leaping over the railing.

"Come on." Shepard said, leading them as Samara requested.

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The Great Hall was longer than it was wide, with a lowered section in the middle. The lowered section was separate from the upper by raised plant beds and pillars. Stairways on the front, back, and middle connected the two levels. The bomb was placed at the far end, where Samara, Falere, and apparently Rila were talking.

Shepard approached the bomb slowly. Liara followed with James.

"Rila? Rila, can you hear me?" Falere was crouched over her older sibling, stroking her cheek. Rila opened her eyes, looking dazed and weak. Falere helped her up.

Liara jumped back as Rila's eyes turned black. Rila tried to choke her sister. Falere threw her off.

"Why did she do that?" Falere asked. Rila collapsed on the floor, appearing very weak.

"She is not herself." Shepard said. _That's putting it lightly. Indoctrination is hell._

"They've begun to turn her into one of the Reaper's creatures." Samara added.

"I'm sorry." Shepard told Falere. She turned to James. "Can we set off that bomb?"

A piercing scream cut through the quiet in the Great Hall.

"Another one?" Shepard asked, pulling her pistol off her back. They turned to see two of the corrupted asari at the doors.

"And another one." James added.

"Fuck." Shepard said. She immediately grabbed one's attention by tossing a warp to the other end of the long hall. It took a biotic jump towards her.

Liara slid into some cover, deciding to assist Shepard with hers. James could keep the other one busy. The creature neared Shepard in the middle of the hall. She threw her own weaker warp at it, watching as Shepard ducked behind a planter base. The corrupted asari's bright biotic attack slammed into the barrier. Shepard jumped up to renew her assault, moving down one side of the hall away from the biotic terror. Liara continued to shoot, hearing James' assault rifle fire off to her right. She rose from her hiding spot to follow the beast.

It jumped after Shepard rapidly. Liara had to move quickly to keep it within range. It reached the far end of the hall, turning the corner after Shepard. Liara decided to cut through the lowered area in the center of the hall. She hit it with another warp at the far end of the hall. Shepard added her own warp and it dropped to the floor, dying in a biotic flare out. She watched the corpse sizzle into a pile of ash for a moment.

She felt a presence behind her and turned. _The other creature! _ It grabbed her with its hands, its sharp fingers cutting through her armor and piercing her shoulders. Liara shrieked. The claws cut deep into her shoulders and back. She tried to throw a warp and was unable. She found her pistol arm unwilling to move. Her hand went limp, dropping her gun to the floor. A headache burst into her head, followed by an image of a Reaper.

The corrupted asari was jerked forward and Liara was dropped. She collapsed into a heap on the floor. She looked up to see James smashing the butt of his rifle into the beast's back. Liara felt herself dragged away. The thing rotated to face James.

"Liara! Are you all right?" Shepard was checking her shoulders. The image of the Reaper was no longer in her head.

"I'm ok." Liara told her. The headache was fading. The pain in her shoulders was becoming acute.

"I'll be back." Shepard said. She got to her feet. James was enveloped in a biotic attack of some kind. He crouched on the ground in obvious pain. Shepard walked to the back of the creature, put her pistol to its head, and emptied the clip into it.

She ignored the creature as it disintegrated, checking on James. He nodded to her before standing up. Shepard came back to Liara, opening her armor enough to apply medi gel to each shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" Shepard asked, pulling her to her feet.

"Better." Liara said while zipping her suit back up. "Those things..."

"..are horrible. I know." Shepard told her reassuringly.

"I saw an image of a Reaper in my head." Liara said.

"Are you ok?" Shepard asked, concerned.

"I think so."

"Ok." Shepard said, turning to find Liara's pistol near the pile of ash. She handed it to her before returning to Falere, Rila, and Samara.

00000000

Rila returned to her normal-self briefly, and told them to leave. She promised to detonate the bomb herself. Her fight against Reaper control reminded Liara instantly of her mother, bringing tears to her eyes. The few moments before Benezia died had torn her heart. At the very end the cold Matriarch that was her mother fell away to reveal the kind mother she had seen only a couple times. Tears dripped from Liara's eyes watching the two sisters interact. Seeing her cry, Shepard gave her quick hug.

Shepard had to forcibly remove Falere from the hall. Liara followed, making sure the confused Ardat Yakshi did not escape her grip, or try anything dangerous. Considering Shepard's experience with Ardat Yakshi, she was surely fighting against her own desire to release the asari and be rid of her. In the elevator Falere continued to pound against the door until noise of the explosion made her attempts meaningless.

Now they were in front of the former monastery, and Samara was spouting off nonsense about the code.

"The code demands an Ardat Yakshi cannot live outside a monastery that no longer exists." Samara told them.

"Samara, you can't really believe the code is comprehensive enough to cover a Reaper attack." Shepard said.

"I'm sorry, Shepard. By the justicar's code...there is only one way to save Falere." Samara pulled her weapon from her side and brought it towards her head.

"Mother! No!" Falere cried. Shepard was already in motion towards the Justicar.

"My daughters. You were all so much stronger than I believed." She pointed the weapon at her temple. Shepard leapt the last few feet, wrenching Samara's gun arm back. She grabbed the Justicar from behind, making sure she couldn't regain control of the weapon.

"Shepard! Release me!" Samara's biotics flared. Shepard's biotics flared involuntarily in response. Liara wasn't sure what Samara could do to someone behind her. She hoped Shepard could calm the Justicar.

"I won't let you kill yourself, Samara." She said. Their biotics sparked and popped where their skin touched.

"I must fulfill the code, and I will not kill my last daughter." Samara said. Shepard was obviously fighting her own biotics, which were surging and dimming in response to Samara. Liara could feel her own rising in response to the surges of power.

"Mother! Please!" Falere exclaimed.

"The code does not cover this!" Shepard said into her ear. Shepard's biotics finally shut down, and Liara felt the pressure of Samara's power in waves. It was pushing Shepard back.

"I will not..." Samara started.

"You won't have to!" Falere exclaimed.

Samara stopped fighting Shepard. "Falere?" Her biotics dropped. Shepard released her, but took the gun from her hand. Samara let her.

"I will stay here." Falere said calmly. "Home...no matter what's become of it."

"Without a proper monastery..." Samara again starts.

"I could have left at any time." She told her mother. "I don't need a building to honor my own code."

"Then the code permits you to stay." Samara said, pride in her daughter apparent in her voice.

"And if the Reapers return, they won't take me alive. I promise." Falere tells her.

"Once this war is over, and if I am able, I will visit. As a Justicar should." Samara smiled at her youngest. Shepard handed her pistol back to her.

00000000

_Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!_

Miranda once again felt herself stabbed, the sharp pain making her wince. She once again pulled away from the sword, falling to the ground. Twisting, she threw a warp at her attacker. The phantom was tossed to the floor.

She grabbed her gun from the desk, switched it to her off hand, then killed the phantom. A pair of attackers grabbed her arms, then pulled her in front of a window.

Then something off script happened. Kai Leng kicked at her, but she yanked good arm away from one of the phantoms. It was thrown in front of Kai Leng's foot, and knocked back through the window. Its sword was flung into the air. Miranda slammed her fist into the other phantom, knocking it back against the desk. Miranda pulled away from Kai Leng, slamming her elbow against the phantom at the desk. Something crunched.

She surprised Kai Leng by hopping onto the desk…and grabbing the sword in the air. He was still in motion towards her. She brought down the sword in a quick arc. He couldn't stop in time. He tried to roll away, and lost an arm for his trouble. He howled. She hopped down and cut him in half. He looked quite surprised by the turn of events. She finished off the other phantom quickly, then took off towards their shuttle.

_Sure, subconscious. Show me what I should have done…assuming I knew how to handle a sword, and could leap up from a military hold…_

No one was more surprised than Miranda, when she woke up. She opened her eyes to a blurry haze. Her vision was filled with white, grey, and splotches of colored lights. She quickly figured out she was in the Normandy med bay.

"Hello?" She said.

"You're awake!" A blurry grey figure stood to her right. "Samantha will be pleased." Miranda saw the orange light of an omni tool light up. "Commander, she is awake."

"Dr. Chakwas? Where is Sam?" Miranda asked. "I can't see." The grey mass moved in front of her. A bright light filled her vision. She closed her eyes and turned away.

"Blurry vision is a temporary symptom of severe dehydration and blood loss." The light went away. "Your vision should improve soon. Samantha is returning from a mission right now. Do you feel any pain?"

Miranda attempted to rise. A sharp pain pierced her shoulder. Other than that, she felt achy all over. "My shoulder." She sat up carefully.

"Any nausea?" Dr. Chakwas asked. She checked Miranda over. "Your shoulder will heal in another week or so."

"No. Probably because I haven't eaten in a while."

"Very likely." The doctor opened her mouth, shining a light into it. Miranda said 'Ahhh' purely from experience.

"How long was I out?" She asked. Chakwas handed her a glass of water.

"It's been three days since Shepard pulled you off that beam. She didn't leave your side until this morning." She pointed to a chair next to the bed.

Miranda took a drink, then smiled. "I suspected as much. Sounds like I'm going to have to give her another 'the mission is more important than me' speeches. Not that I don't appreciate the thought."

"Take it easy on her. The two days after your messages were hard for her to handle."

"I will." The door swished open.

The grey mass of the doctor moved out of the way and the flaming red of Samantha's hair ran towards her. Miranda felt herself wrapped into an embrace, and lifted from the hospital bed. "Angel." Was all Sam said. She was still wearing her combat armor.

"Commander. Please be careful." The doctor interrupted. "She still has pain in her shoulder and her vision is unfocused." Sam put her down.

"What's wrong with her eyes?" Sam's green eyes filled her vision.

"A side effect of severe dehydration. It should improve within a day. Her shoulder will take longer than that." Chakwas told her. Miranda reached up and placed her hands gently on the sides of Samantha's face. She stroked her cheeks, then ran her fingers through her hair. She pulled her even closer, kissing her lightly.

"Oh Sam. I have missed you terribly." Miranda pulled her into a deep kiss that lasted several minutes.

"Me too, Angel. Me too." Sam told her once they separated.

"Doctor? Do I have to stay in the medical center tonight?" Miranda asked.

"Your shoulder still needs to heal, and it will be dangerous for you to be wandering around the ship with such poor vision." Chakwas said from her right.

"Please doctor." She said. The doctor paused for a very long time. She sighed.

"Miranda Lawson, purely because I shudder to think about what you two will do if I keep you in the med bay, you are now confined to the captain's quarters. You are not allowed to leave her quarters without my permission. Please stay on or near the bed until your vision improves, and please do not use your arm for anything. I will visit you several times a day to make sure you are following orders."

"Thanks, Doc." Shepard said, glee in her voice.

"Be careful walking her to your cabin, Commander. And for her sake, let her rest as much as possible."

"I promise, Doc." Miranda felt herself carefully stood, and guided out of the medical center. She clung to Sam, trusting her to guide her safely. Once they reached the elevator, she found herself growing tired.

"Sleepy, beautiful?" Shepard asked, kissing her temple lightly.

"Sorry Sam. I am really happy to see you." She leaned into Samantha and wrapped her arms around her, resting her head on her chest.

"It's fine, Angel. You have no idea how happy I am to see you awake." Sam caressed her hair.

"Commander, Admiral Hackett is waiting on vid comm." Joker announced. Miranda barely heard him.

"Give him my apologies, Joker. It's going to be a few minutes." Sam said from above her head.

As Miranda drifted off, she felt Samantha lift her into her arms.

00000000

Miranda woke with the ships lights on 'early morning' setting. Her mind was rested and calm. Samantha was wrapped around her like the most comfortable blanket. Her wounded arm was propped up on her other side. Her dreams were peaceful. _The universe is about to be purged of all intelligent life, and this woman still manages to put me completely at ease. It's hard to believe. _She noticed her vision was almost back to normal. There was still some slight blurring, but nothing impossible to overcome.

Unfortunately she needed to get up to relieve herself. Trying to scoot herself without using one arm was difficult, and she inevitably woke Sam, who practically hopped out of bed.

"What can I get for you?" She asked.

"Bathroom." Miranda told her.

Samantha helped her into a seated position, then stopped. "Umm, it sounds like the bathroom is occupied." Miranda finally noticed the sound of the shower running.

"Who would use your shower?" Miranda asked. She was suddenly conscious that she was only wearing a long t-shirt. Samantha was similarly attired.

"Stay here. I'll take care of it." Sam left her sitting on the edge of the bed. Before Sam reached the bathroom the door opened, revealing a naked brunette rubbing a towel down her arms. Miranda's eyes almost bulged out if their sockets. The brunette noticed Samantha approaching.

"Commander! How are you doing this morning?" She continued drying off, not even attempting to cover herself. Miranda started to glare.

"Specialist. We need..." She waved towards the bathroom.

"Oh, certainly!" She backed out of the way. "Wait, we?" She noticed Miranda sitting on the edge of the bed. "Miss Lawson!" She practically ran over to Miranda, dropping her towel on the way. "I'm so happy you're feeling better!" Miranda's eyes opened wide again.

"Umm." Was all Miranda could get out. The naked woman crouched in front of her and took her hands.

"Everyone was so worried about you! The Commander here was crying your name while she slept. I'm glad I was available to soothe her back to peaceful slumber." Her English accent was completely throwing Miranda for a loop, it just didn't fit with the nonchalant nudity.

"Traynor." Samantha said. Miranda looked at Sam to see wide eyed terror on her face.

"Oh! Right!" Traynor said. "I'm Specialist Traynor, Miss Lawson. I'm the Commander's assistant. I'm sorry we weren't properly introduced the last time you were on board." Miranda was still too shocked to say anything. Her mouth hung open.

"Traynor." Sam had her head in her hand at this point.

Traynor looked up and down at Miranda. "If you don't mind me saying," Traynor gave her a sultry smile. "I can see why the Commander is head over heels in love with you. You are gorgeous!" Miranda felt red creep up her face.

"Traynor!" Sam apparently had enough.

"Right!" Traynor stood up, giving Miranda a direct view of her shaved privates. "I'll leave you two beautiful women alone." She turned and bent over to grab her towel, giving Miranda a compelling view of her other side. She quickly dried off, then wrapped a short blue robe around herself. "Commander, the offer still stands if you need another body to keep you warm at night."

"No thank you, Specialist. I will be fine." Shepard led the woman to the door.

"It was nice to meet you, Miss Lawson. See you below, Commander." With a swish of the door she was gone. Miranda closed her mouth.

"I told her she could use my shower." Samantha told her. "She likes it better than the crew showers."

"That's who you've been sleeping with?" Miranda finally formed words.

"Yeah. Liara didn't want to any more, for some reason." Sam looked sad.

"Does she sleep in anything?" Miranda asked.

"Ummm..." Samantha didn't realize how much she gave away with her lack of an answer.

"Sam!"

"I swear I never touched her!" Samantha exclaimed.

"You slept with a naked woman and never touched her? I find that hard to believe." Miranda crossed her arms over her chest.

"Most of the time she wasn't here when I fell asleep! I woke up and she was there."

"And you never told her to wear something to bed."

"No..." Sam ran her hand through her hair. "It didn't seem to bother her, so I let it go."

"And you didn't think it would bother me." Miranda gave her a blank stare.

"I..." Samantha looked at Miranda, pleading with her eyes. "…didn't think you would find out. That sounds bad. Ummm. I swear nothing happened."

Miranda looked at her skeptically.

"Angel, you know I only have eyes for you." Samantha said.

"Yes. I know. I trust you." Miranda looked at her feet. "Sam, I just don't know how to take this. You're assistant spends a lot of time around you... in the nude, and I find it hard to believe you would save yourself for me with that within easy reach." She waved a hand towards the door. Sam quickly walked to her, crouching in front of her. She took both her hands into hers.

"Miranda...my Angel. No one..." She looked deep into Miranda's eyes. "…could ever replace you." She kissed her tenderly.

"I'm sorry Sam. I can't stand the thought of losing you." Miranda threw her arms around her, instantly taking a sharp breath. Sam gently took her wounded arm and put it back in her lap.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm ok. I obviously still need some time to heal."

"It will be another day before we reach the quarians. I'm all yours until we reach their diplomatic vessel. Let me know what you need."

"Bathroom."

"Of course." She cursed at herself under her breath. "Here we go." She lifted Miranda to her feet.

00000000

Oriana Lawson stared at her biological father in wonder.

"How could you possibly think friendship and kindness are bad things?" She asked.

"Friends will always betray you in the long run, and kindness is a crutch for the weak." Henry answered. She shook her head at him.

Once again she started to get just a little too amicable with a teacher, and they were summarily fired. Starting over with another teacher meant lost time and effort. She'd requested a meeting with Henry to discuss the needless tutor change. Still baffled she continued her questions.

"You can't possibly believe an adversarial student/teacher relationship is conducive to learning." She told him.

"A 'friend' is incapable of providing an unbiased opinion of your abilities, and would be more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt. Since the real world will not give you any leeway, your instructors should not either. Greatness comes from perseverance and the knowledge that you can't trust anyone but yourself." Oriana's mouth dropped open.

"You live in a very cold place, 'dad'. Commander Shepard surrounds herself with friends and trusts them all. You cannot pretend she isn't great."

"Even ignoring that she's been killed once already, Commander Shepard is fighting a losing battle. It's only a matter of time till she falls to the Reapers. They cannot be defeated. Our only hope is to assimilate them." He told her.

"Assimilate them? Are you insane? Surely you've read the reports about Saren and Matriarch Benezia. People get indoctrinated by the Reapers, not the other way around."

"You will see, daughter." He said, turning to the door.

"I have to get away from here...if the Reapers aren't headed here already, they will be." Oriana said. He stiffened.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He turned back towards her, the slightest of smirks gracing his face. "Miranda died a week ago." Oriana's heart dropped to the floor. "That's one less thing to distract you from your studies." He left.

"What?!" Oriana said to the closed door. "How?!" She asked the un-answering door. Confusion fought with sadness and anger in her head. Her eyes grew wet at the possibility. She collapsed into a chair.

_Oh sis...please tell me it's not true. Could he be telling the truth? Would he lie just to gain my cooperation? Probably, though he would have done it weeks ago. And there was that smirk. If he was lying he'd try to appear somber. That was him telling me a secret he'd been saving._ Tears dripped down her face. She pulled herself out of the chair and flung herself on the bed. Sobs wracked her body. She'd only known she had a sister for 8 months…and now she was gone.

_Please don't let it be true._

00000000

"Are you fucking insane?" Shepard exclaimed. The quarian Admirals gave a start, obviously not used to being addressed so crudely. "The Reapers are literally tearing worlds apart, and you decide the time is right to retake your home world?"

"You don't know what it's like. You have your home world." Admiral Xen told her.

"And as we speak it is being cleared of all life." Shepard threw her hands into the air. "Fine, in the hope that you will actually retreat from this stupid engagement, I'll help."

The quarians, against all common sense, decided to attack the geth in another attempt to retake their home world. They also unwisely used their liveships(civilian vessels) in the attack. Shepard could understand the desperation driving the quarians to retake their home world, but the timing couldn't be worse if the Reapers planned it themselves.

To allow the liveships to escape they needed to disrupt a reaper signal created by one of the geth ships. Unfortunately it was coming from the largest ship the geth had, a dreadnought. The Normandy's stealth drives were required to infiltrate the huge ship.

"Our newest Admiral also volunteered to offer technical expertise..." Admiral Raan started, turning towards the door. Shepard's jaw dropped when she saw who it was. _Tali!_ Shepard couldn't keep a smile from her face.

"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy reporting for duty." Decorum demanded Shepard not act too familiar in front of the other admirals. It took some willpower to keep from giving Tali a big hug.

"Glad you could make it, Tali." Shepard turned back to look at the other quarians. "Admirals, I'll ready a team to infiltrate the dreadnought. Be ready to evacuate your fleet."

Shepard escorted Tali through security herself, making sure the security operatives knew she was allowed anywhere on the Normandy.

The instant she reached the main deck she pulled her into a tight hug.

"It's great to see you, Tali."

"You too, Shepard. I was worried while you were locked up."

"They changed their minds in a hurry when the first Reaper dropped." Shepard smirked. Tali looked sad.

"I'm sorry about Earth, Shepard."

"We'll get them." She said. She said through her comm link. "Joker, get us to the dreadnought."

"Aye aye, Commander."

"Admiral Zorah?" Shepard gave her a raised eyebrow.

"It's mostly a formality, since I'm an expert on the geth."

"That you are, but don't sell yourself short. The common sense of the admiralty board doubled when you joined."

"Thank you, Shepard. And just so you know, I was against the attack, but I can't openly oppose it. The fleet can't afford to be fractured right now."

"I figured as much, Tali. Let's worry about cutting off that Reaper signal. You're going to come on the assault, I assume."

"Wouldn't miss it." Tali told her, her smiling eyes showed through the visor.

Shepard activated her comm link. "Garrus? Suit up! Tali needs our help."

"Be there in five." Garrus answered. Shepard shut down the link. "Or will he be too distracting, Tali?"

"I will try to control myself." She said with a smirk. The smirk went away. "I heard Miranda was hurt..."

"She's doing much better, but I almost lost her." Shepard looked down and frowned. "Cerberus attacked the facility she infiltrated. Someone kicked her through a window."

"I'm glad you got her back." Tali said.

"Me too. I don't know what I would do if..." Tali clasped her hand.

"It's best not to think about it, Shepard."

"Yes." She smiled at her quarian friend. "I should let you get your combat suit on. We can catch up after the dreadnought."

"Of course. Oh, Shepard, I'd like to request Normandy access for my assistant, Lia'Vael."

"Lia'Vael? The quarian we helped on the Citadel last year?"

"Yes. She had enough of modeling after she got a severe infection, and has proven quite capable as my assistant ever since."

"That's fantastic! I'll give her clearance right away." She paused. "She doesn't want to go on the mission..."

"No, she has no combat training. She'll be quite happy analyzing data down in engineering." Tali reassured her.

"Ok, Tali. See you in a few minutes."

After Tali took the elevator down Shepard noticed Specialist Traynor looking at her.

"Specialist?"

"Commander, you certainly recruit the hottest people for your crew."

Shepard laughed. "It certainly seems that way, doesn't it?"

"I mean, I'd happily take more than half of them to..." She drifted off for a moment before returning her focus to Shepard. "By the way, the crew beds are not nearly as comfortable...and your bed is plenty big for three..."

"No. Sorry Traynor. I had plenty of explaining to do about you already. I don't think Miranda would..."

"But if she was there, she would know nothing was going on." Traynor said.

"No Traynor, sorry." Shepard left to get her gear, shaking her head.

"Bugger." Traynor said under her breath.

00000000

Kaiden was starting to question is choice to rejoin the Normandy. Shepard had yet to invite him on a mission, and with the heavy overlap of his skills and Shepard's, he was wondering if her ever would. Now it was even worse. The Cerberus agent was back on board, and his skills matched hers almost exactly. Would Shepard take him over her...ever? He knew the Normandy was doing very important work, and every mission was making a difference, but without any participation he felt he was little more than a janitor.

Shepard was on the geth dreadnought, helping the quarians to escape the geth fleet. She took Tali and Garrus with her, and even though they both make sense for this mission, he still wished he could be there. Listening in on the mission might be interesting, but he really felt more anxious than useful in the command room.

He considered visiting the lounge again, but decided against it. If the Commander ever found him passed out on the floor he knew he'd never get any mission time. He headed down and grabbed some juice in the cafeteria.

00000000

Dr. Chakwas released Miranda to the rest of the Normandy while Sam was away on the geth dreadnought, though she forbade her from listening in on the battle, for anxiety reasons. She had her arm in a sling to keep the stress off her shoulder. Without anything better to do, she headed to the cafeteria to see if they had any tea. Amazingly they had some of her expensive green tea, whether because Sam picked some up or it was left from her previous time on the Normandy, she didn't know.

She was sitting in the cafeteria sipping her tea when Kaiden entered. To her surprise he sat down right across from her. She thought he hated her, for several reasons.

"Miranda." He said.

"Kaiden." She returned.

"How is your shoulder?"

"Better." She told him, surprised at his concern. "It will obviously be a little while until I can participate in combat missions."

"At least there's a reason she's keeping you here." He said, taking a drink of juice.

"You haven't been pulled on any missions?" She asked.

"Not since Mars, when she had no alternative."

"I'm sure she has her reasons. You have very similar skills." She told him. He frowned. "I can mention it to her, if you would like."

"No!" He blurted out. "I don't want her to think I'm complaining."

"Ok." She said, uncomfortable in the role of confidant.

"You have the same skills as me." He said, looking at her face. "Want to bet she takes you on a mission before me?" Miranda didn't say anything for a minute.

"After my most recent trouble I would be surprised if she let me off the ship without armed escort, much less take me on a mission." She told him with a small smile. Kaiden scoffed.

The tense situation was broken when Liara ran up to the table. "Miranda! You were right. There is something strange going on at the Sanctuary facility."

Miranda refocused on Liara. "What have you found?" Liara sat down next to Kaiden. She smiled at him briefly before continuing.

"They have been getting massive shipments of scientific equipment. Much bigger than any refugee center would require, or even want. Also, the reports submitted to the Alliance changed in format and style recently." She looked at Miranda excitedly. "Like someone unfamiliar with Alliance reports was creating them."

"Anything else?" Miranda asked, her eyes wide.

"The facility has been under severe communication restrictions since its inception, but for the last couple days it has been utterly silent." Liara's smile vanished, and was replaced with genuine concern. "I'm worried the Reapers might have found them."

Miranda stood up. "We need to show this to Shepard."

"You know she's not going to leave until the quarians are safe." Liara said.

"I..." Conflict ran through Miranda. Her own mantra spoke in her head. _The mission is more important than any one person, even Oriana._ Even though she knew it was true, she couldn't sit around. But what could she do while wounded? She looked from Kaiden to Liara. _I can't endanger other members of the crew. _Thoughts coalesced in her head. "I need to think." She grabbed her tea with her good arm and headed for the elevator.

I apologize for the infrequency of my postings. I am getting more writing done recently, and will do my best to keep it up. I already have the next chapter written, and the next couple outlined. I'll also warn you that I'm mixing up the order of the last couple missions. Thanks for the reviews. I enjoy the complements and appreciate constructive criticism.


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